Slayers
by PrincessKooki
Summary: AU. Rose is one of the best vampire slayers the world has ever known. But even she can't face the forces of evil by herself. Along with an element wielding moroi and an alchemist witch they battle the undead creatures of the night. The only thing missing? Mr. Right. But when her perfect match comes along, is Rose willing to drag him into her world of violence and death?
1. Chapter 1 - Strigoi

**_Chapter 1 - Strigoi_**

Rose was pushing herself through a sarong of sweaty bodies trying to get to the bar at the far back of the club without killing anyone on the way. She was sick and tired of the week she'd had. All work, work, work and no play. Even now, in the hottest night club on the east coast, while Rose was surrounded by dancing and drinking and fun, she was still technically working.

Lissa, again, tried to convince her to let loose a little and have some fun, "Just this once".

"I can't do that, Liss", Rose said discreetly into her ear piece/mic for what felt like the hundredth time. "I take a break, people die".

At that exact moment Rose spotted _him_. The most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, not to mention the tallest. Even leaning back against the bar, he was still taller by at least six inches than any other man in the club. When she finally reached the bar, Rose noticed that tall, dark and steamy was eyeing her up and down as though he were mesmerized. That wasn't surprising considering Rose held the attention of every male in the room, not to mention some of the women, with her radiant beauty.

 _Maybe I can take a tiny break,_ Rose thought. The guy looked like he was about 230 pounds of pure muscle. Just her type.

As he approached Rose, he held himself with confidence yet he still seemed a bit shy. Rose wondered for a moment if it was real or a ploy to appear more endearing.

He gave Rose a small smile before leaning in a bit to her ear so she could hear over the music. "Hi", he said in a low accented voice.

Rose answered with a smile. By his mere presence Rose could tell there was something different about this guy.

"I'm Dimitri", he held out his hand to her. Rose licked her lips. There was just something about a man with an accent that did things to her.

"Rose", she shook his hand. His hand was so large it nearly engulfed her own small one completely. Rose was surprised by the spark she felt when their skin touched. Even more surprising was that Dimitri felt it too. Rose could tell by the ' _whoa'_ that escaped his lips and the way his eye widened as he held her hand for a little too long to just be a casual hand shake. She leaned up on her tip toes and purred "By me a drink, comrade". Rose wasn't supposed to drink, but really what was the harm? It wouldn't effect her that much and it didn't really seem like she'd actually be hunting or slaying tonight.

Dimitri swallowed hard and ordered two shots of Russian vodka.

After downing them, Rose and Dimitri talked for a bit. In addition to his god like good looks, Dimitri, aka Dr. Belikov, was also starting a residency at Mt. Sinai, where he'd finished hi internship not long ago. He enjoyed playing sports and running and he recently got out of a long relationship.

Dimitri wasn't usually so talkative, but something about Rose was so inviting to him, like he'd answer anything she asked him just for batting her eyelashes at him. As much as Dimitri disclosed about himself, Rose held back. She wasn't allowed to discuss any specifics. She'd already slipped up by revealing her real name. All she told him was that the only family she had were her adoptive sisters and that she worked in law enforcement.

"Really?" Dimitri asked, "Law enforcement?" Dimitri hardly ever judged a book by it's cover, but Rose was petite compared to him. He shuddered to think of the danger she was constantly in.

Rose nodded. "I work for a privately funded and very discreet agency".

Dimitri got the hint that Rose probably wasn't allowed to discuss matters any further. He still had to ask, "What is it that you do, at this agency?"

Rose smirked, "We guard you while you sleep", she answered cryptically. "Technically, I'm working right now, but it's a slow night", she smiled.

Dimitri didn't quite know if she was serious or not, but thought it better to let it slide for now.

"Dance with me?" Rose lent out her hand to him. Dimitri took it without hesitation. There was that elusive spark again.

The more they danced the closer they got. Two songs in and they were completely wrapped in each other. Dimitri had a hand around Rose's waist and another on her hip. Rose had a grip on one of Dimitri's biceps while the other hand was playing with the collar of his shirt. By the third song, they were pressed so tightly against each other, Rose wasn't sure were she ended and he began as they swayed to the music.

Despite the dirty dancing, Dimitri never did anything disrespectful, never pawed at her, never grabbed at her. Slowly his hand traveled up her body until his fingers twisted in her hair.

Rose was turned on beyond belief. She'd never felt anything like the pull she felt towards Dimitri. It seem beyond natural and she wasn't sure how much longer she could contain herself.

As she was trying to convince herself that she was still on duty and couldn't go home with the hunk of a man, or drag him to the nearest flat surface, Dimitri tilted her her head up and leaned in. They were a hairs breath away when Rose heard a loud scream in her head. "Rose!"

She gasped and pulled away from Dimitri. "Shit", she murmured.

"We found one, he's taking a girl towards the exit to the back alley. Hurry!", Lissa and her perfect timing.

Rose turned her face back up to Dimitri, "I'm sorry, I have to go".

Dimitri looked crushed, he was sure she felt the connection as well. "What's wrong? Was it something I did?"

Rose smiled. "I wasn't lying when I said that I'm working tonight. And I have to go before someone gets hurt". She pulled Dimitri down and kissed his cheek before disappearing into the crowd leaving him stunned.

"I'm on my way Liss", Rose informed the voice in her head.

"Glad you could join us", Rose heard Sydney add in the ear piece.

Rose practically jumped into the alley. Immediately she spotted it - a strigoi backed a scared young woman into a corner. The bastard was toying with her.

By this time, Lissa and Sydney made their way to the alley from the street.

"Hey!", Rose called out. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Now the strigoi was much more interested in her. "Well, well", he sniffed the air. "What do we have here? A slayer?"

Once the strigoi's attention was on Rose, Lissa and Sydney made sure the young woman got of there.

The strigoi attacked Rose, but he wasn't expecting Rose to be so fast. She managed to side step every one of his attempted blows, plus she got a few good hits on him. She had already pulled out her silver stake.

In the meanwhile, Dimitri realized he never even got Rose's number. He couldn't let her be the one that got away. After getting his coat, he made his way to the back exit where he saw Rose disappear to. He hoped he could catch up with her and that he wouldn't interfere.

Nothing could have prepared Dimitri for what he saw when he stepped out to the alley. To anyone else it would have looked like two blurs colliding with each other over and over. But Dimitri did in fact see Rose in a grunge match against a male who was twice her size!

"Rose!" he called without thinking about it. And he got her attention.

The mistake was fatal. The small distraction was all the strigoi needed to slam Rose into the wall behind her, making her drop her stake. The stake, Rose's only salvation, rolled away from her and landed at Dimitri's feet.

The strigoi had Rose pressed against the wall by her neck, his fangs inching towards her flesh.

That's when Lissa did something stupid. She charged at the strigoi hoping it would distract him enough for Rose to break free. It didn't and Lissa ended up flying back and landing in a heap on the ground, barely holding on to consciousness.

Sydney ran to her and was relieved to find her still breathing. During all of this, Dimitri was frozen still. Sydney yelled at him to get the stake and use it. But the sentiment was lost on Dimitri who was in a complete state of shock.

Rose was gasping for air trying to push herself off the wall. As she was struggling she felt one of the bricks jiggle against her hand. With all her might, she yanked the brick out and smashed it into the strigoi's skull. That was enough to make him drop Rose. Rose hit him again with enough force to knock him to the ground. But she wasn't nearly done with him.

She straddled him and bashed his head over and over and over again. His blood splattered all over her and the alley. His head was almost unrecognizable as that of a humanoid. But the job wasn't finished yet.

She dismounted the strigoi, tried unsuccessfully to wipe her hands clean on her dress and turned towards Dimitri. She walked up to him, kneeled before him and retrieved her stake. In the corner of her eye she saw a twitch. Rose turned back to the strigoi and staked him through the heart.

Rose's first priority was her injured team mate.

Sydney nodded at her. "She's gonna be fine".

Rose sagged in relief.

Sydney couldn't get over how useless Dimitri had been during the whole altercation. She marched right up to all six foot seven of him, jabbing her finger in his chest while berating him for his weak performance. "What is the matter with you?! Rose could have been killed! Lissa could have been killed. That soon to be pile of ash was fully engaged, all you had to do was pick up the stake and ram it through his heart!"

"Leave him alone!", Rose rolled her eyes and tried to stop Sydney, but she was like a dog with a bone. No reasoning with her when it came to the wellbeing of her adoptive sisters.

"Seriously?!" Syd continued her rant. "What kind of a dhampir are you?!"

Rose gasped. Not because news of Dimitri being a dhampir surprised her, but because she didn't think Sydney would have picked up on it so soon. Rose should have known better, Syd was a genius.

Dimitri was clueless as to what was being said around him, yet somehow he still had the presence of mind to ask, "What's a dhampir?"

Sydney looked at him, puzzled.

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. "He's the kind of dhampir that doesn't know what a dhampir is, Sydney. He grew up human. He's a doctor, for crying out loud".

The declaration that Dimitri was a doctor finally brought Dimitri back to himself. For the time being he ignored the dead body that he wasn't entirely sure was human (it was the fangs and red eyes that did it) and walked over to Lissa. He made sure she was alright with a very brief field examination of sorts. She just had the wind knocked out of her and a bruise was forming on her shoulder. Other than that, she'd be fine. Then he took another long look at Rose.

"Rose, you're hurt". Dimitri was referring to the nasty gash she had down her arm.

Rose glimpsed at the cut and shrugged. "I'll live".

"That's really deep. You're losing a lot of blood, you need stitches".

"Don't worry about it", Rose said. Knowing Lissa would be in no shape to heal her any time soon, she added, "Sydney can stitch it up for me in the van." She glanced at Sydney who slightly shook her head disapprovingly at Rose. "She does it all the time". Rose tried to shrug. Syd did it _once_. And it just barely saved Rose's life. But no one was looking forward to a repeat of that.

Dimitri sighed. "Rose, you need a hospital, not some dingy van".

"Hey!" Sydney cried out. No one calls her van dingy.

"No hospitals", Rose answered with a finality that said there was no arguing with her.

"Is Sydney a doctor?" Dimitri was answered with head shakes all around. "A nurse?" again the shaking heads answer. "A medical professional of any kind?"

"No", Rose replied.

"Well, then at least let me stitch that for you", Dimitri was instant.

"That's a great idea", Sydney chimed in. "Why don't you help Lissa to the van and Rose and I will be there in a minute. We have a loose end to tie up her", she motioned to the strigoi.

Dimitri nodded in agreement. He really didn't want to know what they were doing and was just glad he would be the one to treat Rose's wound. That way he would know for sure that she was properly taken care of.

Before he left with Lissa, Dimitri pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around Rose's wounded arm to keep pressure on it. "Don't be long", he told Rose with a burning in his eyes.

Dimitri and Lissa walked off. "I'm Lissa, by the way", She introduced herself.

"Dimitri Belikov". He answered politely.

As soon as Dimitri and Lissa were out of earshot, Rose turned on Sydney, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"We need to bring him in. Alberta should meet him". Sydney answered as she poured a dissolving solution on the strigoi.

"Absolutely not!" Rose whisper yelled.

"He's a dhampir. He has a sacred duty. He needs to come with us!" Sydney answered vehemently.

"It's not _his_ sacred duty if he does know anything about it! He didn't grow up like we did. He has a good, normal life and we can't take that from him". Rose answered sadly.

"I'm not so sure he'll be able to go back to his so called good, normal life. Not after what he saw tonight." Sydney answered sagely. "Besides, don't you think it should be his decision to make?" When Rose didn't answer, Sydney continued. "Male dhampirs are few and far apart. We need him, Rose. _You_ need him".

Rose didn't have a comeback. But she knew she didn't want to drag Dimitri into her lifestyle. She may not have had a choice, but he does.

When the strigoi turned into a puddle of goo, the two left and headed for the van, where Rose would no doubt have to answer some very difficult questions.

In the van Dimitri skillfully stitched up Rose's arm. Luckily, Sydney kept the van fully equipped with medical supplies. The only thing missing was a anesthetic. But Rose said she could handle the pain.

As Dimitri thread the needle, he whispered, "This is really going to hurt. I'm sorry".

After a few stitches he mustered some courage. "So, you want to tell me what the hell that was back there?" Dimitri's eyes were focused on his work.

"That was a strigoi", Sydney answered. "A vampire. An evil blood sucking creature of the night".

As if on cue, Rose and Lissa rolled there eyes in synch.

"Vampires aren't real", Dimitri answered with an almost childlike innocence.

Sydney snorted. "Tell that to the very real gash on Rose's arm. Or the piece of shit pile of ash we left back in the alley".

Rose watched Dimitri's face intently as he continued to stitch her arm. His expression never changed, always calm, unreadable.

"So if vampires are real, why doesn't the public know about them?"

"Ignorance is bliss", Rose said weakly. Yes she was a slayer, and yes she'd been injured far worse. But stitching without any anesthetic while she was awake and trying not to scream was taking it's toll on her.

At the tone of her voice Dimitri looked up into Rose's eyes. "I'm almost done. Just a few more to go". He said apologetically. He had no idea how she hadn't pass out from the pain and the blood loss yet.

"There." Dimitri declared. "All done. 36 stitches".

Rose nodded her thanks.

As soon as Dimitri was done Sydney started driving. "We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. The smell of blood could attract more of them".

After driving for a few blocks, Dimitri swallowed hard and braved the next question. "What's a dhampir?"

Rose shook her head at him, begging him not to go there.

Again it was Sydney who handled the situation. "Are you sure you want to know?" Dimitri nodded. "Do you want to know more about what happened tonight?" Again Dimitri nodded. "Come with us and we'll show you".

"Sydney, no", Rose tried to stop what was inevitable.

Despite Rose's obvious reluctance, Dimitri needed to know. "Alright. Where are we going?"

"Home", Lissa answered.

In her own head, Sydney did a victory dance as she added, "We're taking you to the Sisterhood".

* * *

 _Hi All!_

 _This is my new story! I hope you like it._

 _I'm not making any promises as to the frequency of updates, but i have been slaving over the first few chapters, so those'll probably be updated quickly :)_

 _Please leave me a review!_

 _And don't forget to follow and favorite!_

 _Happy holidays!_

 _Kooki_


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome to the Sisterhood

**_A/N:_**

So this chapter had been ready for a while but I never got around to posting it. The thing is, my grandfather past away last week. And I thought I was ok, and I thought I was prepared for it. But I'm not ok and how do you even prepare for something like that?

What happened sucks, but we have to move forward no matter what. So I'm going to take the advice I got from Swimming and just go with what I feel. Right now I feel like posting this well overdue chapter.

Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed. Special thanks to the reviewers. I usually take the time to answer every review individually, I'm sorry that didn't happen. I hope I'm forgiven due to the circumstances. Don't let it discourage you from reviewing.

Lastly, shout outs to MartionEskimo and Swimming!

Anyway, here's chapter 2. How you enjoy it! Let me know in reviews! (which anyone who's ever read anything I wrote, knows I'm a reviews whore!)

Ciao,  
K

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2 - Welcome to the Sisterhood_**

 _"We're taking you to the Sisterhood"._

That signaled the end of the conversation for the time being. The rest of the drive was silent. Dimitri made sure Rose was comfortable and hydrated. She wasn't used to being coddled, but for Dimitri, she made an exception.

Soon they reached a building in the center of the city. From the outside there was nothing special about it. Nothing about it made it stand out across the city skyline. It was average height, had no logos or emblems, no indication of what it's purpose was. Then again, that was kind of the point. The building was practically hidden in plain sight.

"Welcome to the Sisterhood", Sydney said ominously as she drove past the gate to the underground parking.

Sydney parked the van and they all de-boarded the vehicle. Dimitri immediately noticed Rose was a bit wobbly on her feet and helped her step down from the van. He had his hands on her waist as he gently set her on her feet on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Dimitri asked, without letting go of Rose.

Rose nodded, a little out of breath. It could have been the blood loss. But it could have been Dimitri who took her breath away. Rose was undeniably attracted to the power and goodness he exhumed.

When he was sure she wouldn't fall over, Dimitri took a step away from Rose. Rose was left craving his warmth. They walked closely to the elevators that lead into building.

The elevator stopped on the top floor and opened to a large lobby area. If the building was utterly plain on the outside, inside it was the exact opposite. It was strikingly white and had modern lines. In the center of the lobby, on the marble floor, was an emblem of a red dragon, wings spread, holding a silver stake in one hand and what looked like a ball of fire in the other. The dragon had green eyes. That particular shade of green was so familiar to Dimitri yet he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Underneath the dragon, in what seemed like a font from the renaissance age, was written _The Sisterhood of the Slayers._

The lobby lead to two large oak doors with no doorhandle. Sydney pressed her hand to a keypad that stood by the door and the two wood panels opened inward simultaneously. On the other side of the door was what Dimitri could only describe as headquarters of some sort. Several rows of desks with computers on them and people working behind them. On the walls that encased the rooms were racks and racks of weapons of the midivil variety on display. In the far back was a conference room separated from the open space area by a glass wall. Beyond the conference room were floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the city.

As the group walked into the open space, all eyes were on them. More accurately, all eyes were on Dimitri. He felt naked.

Amidst all the staring there was one voice that rang through the large hall.

"Rosie! Rosie! Rosie!"

A little ball of blond ringlets attacked them. Injury or no, Rose swooped the girl up in her arms in a bear hug.

"Mia, you're going to ruin your pretty dress with all the blood on your auntie Rosie", came a chastising voice from behind them.

"Only she gets to call me Rosie", Rose answered in a menacing voice.

"Aunt Rosie, be nice to Uncle Adrian." Mia scolded, as uncle Adrian opened his arms for Sydney, his long time girlfriend.

"Okay munchkin", Rose indulged and set Mia down.

Lissa too was greeted by her anxious boyfriend. Christian Ozera hated when Lissa did field work. He hated more that he knew tonight she came back rattled and hurt. They embraced and had a brief conversation in hushed tones.

"Who's that?" Mia whispered and pointed at Dimitri, who was still taking everything in wth awe.

"This is my new friend, Dimitri. Dimitri, this is Mia".

Dimitri bent down to Mia, as much as he could, smiled widely and held out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you Mia".

Mia giggled and shook his hand. Rose was amazed how easily Dimitri charmed Mia. She usually wasn't so easily charmed.

"He's cute, aunt Rosie".

Rose smile down at her. "I need you to do me a favor. I have a mission for you. I have to go in to meet Alberta for a status report, but I can't leave Dimitri hear alone", that was more for Dimitri's benefit. "Think you can handle him for a while?". Though Sydney wanted to, Rose knew she couldn't just waltz Dimitri into Alberta's office. Mia showing up was the perfect solution. She could keep anyone occupied for a while.

Mia was giddy with her knew mission. Rose gave Dimitri a pleading look. Dimitri nodded and was already being dragged away by the arm to play a very important game of tea party.

"Come on, we still have work to do", Rose told her sisters and they headed to Alberta's office.

As soon as they walked into the office, Alberta sagged with relief. Any time the girls went out, Alberta worried they wouldn't be coming back. She always feared Rose would suffer the same fate as her mother. A shutter went through Alberta as she recalled the loss of her dear friend, Rose's mother. A slayer who disappear, presumed dead, several years ago. She went out on a routine mission and never came back. It had fallen on Alberta to raise Rose as her own.

But Alberta was still the boss. She couldn't afford to coddle anyone right now. "Please tell me you didn't bring a human here".

 _Good news travels fast_ , Rose thought to herself.

"We didn't bring a human here", Sydney answered.

"It's complicated", Rose continued.

"How is it complicated? He either is human or he isn't".

Rose sighed in exasperation. "He isn't human but he was raised as one. Until tonight he never came across a strigoi, or a dhampir or a moroi for that matter. Not that he knew of, anyway".

"That _is_ complicated", Alberta retorted.

The three proceeded to fill Alberta in on everything that happened that night. Alberta listened along as the story unfolded, all the while waiting for a background report she knew was on the way. Protocol required one as soon as Dimitri stepped foot inside the sisterhood. When he introduced himself to Mia, he didn't know he was in fact making everyone's lives easier by giving them his name. The sisterhood were nothing if not efficient.

As Rose was summing up, Adrian let himself into the office and handed Alberta a tablet with the report on Dr. Dimitri Belikov.

Adrian joined them and presented the new information on their guest on the flat screen in the office.

"Dr. Dimitri Belikov, age 24, born in Russia. Birth parents unknown. Spent the first few years of his life in an orphanage until he was adopted by the Zeklos family. He opted to keep the name given to him at the orphanage. Sadly, the Zeklos's were all tragically killed in a fire when Dimitri was sixteen. He was the sole surviver." Adrian took a pause, knowing this was a touchy subject for Rose and Lissa.

Rose wanted to leave the room and run to Dimitri and hold him tight. He was technically orphaned twice. But then, so was she.

Adrian proceeded, "Dimtiri went to med school in Moscow where he graduated top of his class. In fact, he seems to excel at everything he does. He had high marks in school and was an accomplished athlete as well. I wonder why", Adrian murmured the last part. "The bottom line is, there isn't a single blemish in his record. The guy is squeaky clean".

"Who paid his tuition?" Sydney asked. Rightfully so. "It says here he went to MSMU. That's the best med school in Russian. It had to cost a pretty penny".

Adrian nodded and after a quick search he answered, "He was awarded the Mazur Grant which paid his tuition and living expenses fully".

Rose and Alberta exchanged a knowing look.

"What do you propose we do with him?" Alberta addressed the room.

"He wants to know what happened tonight. He wants to know who he is". Sydney said. "I say, we tell him the truth, about everything and begin his training as soon as possible. He has a glorious purpose".

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "No, _we_ have a glorious purpose and he shouldn't be burdened with it. I say, we leave him alone, send him home to lead a happy, normal life".

"Lissa?" Alberta prompted.

"I say we let him decide. Tell him the truth and give him the option to stay and train, or leave and go back to his life".

"I'm inclined to agree with Lissa. It's late and Rose, you need to rest. Set Dimitri up here for the day and tomorrow we'll discuss everything with him".

Rose was surprised. "You want him to stay _here_?"

"Well we can't let him leave until we know where he stands. If he's with us, he's with us. If not", Alberta let that hang in the air for a bit before putting Rose out of her misery, "we compel him to forget everything about what he was tonight".

Rose was too shocked to watch her own mouth. "Bertie, you can't be serious!"

"You want to watch what you say to me in this office, Rose. You'll do well to remember I'm still your commander".

Rose nodded numbly. It all seemed so extreme. And the thought of Dimitri being made to forget her was almost as painful as the stitches she received earlier.

With that the team dispersed and each went their separate ways.

Lissa was still a little out of it, and she had some explaining to do with Christian. Sydney went to file the report since she knew Rose would never do it, with Adrian in tow. And Rose needed to find the Russian McDreamy and have a talk with him. But first she was in much need of a shower.

* * *

Mia had managed to drag the hulking six foot seven doctor all the way to study hall at the facility to the children's playroom. All the children were in class or training, but Mia was given more leeway than most. She was the youngest resident currently living at the sisterhood. And after the trauma she'd suffered she was permitted to roam more or less freely.

Mid sip, Mia asked Dimitri, "What are you?"

Thankfully Dimitri's cup was full of pretend tea otherwise he would have spit it all out. "What do you mean, Mia?"

"Are you a moroi or dhampir?"

Dimitri was left baffled. He's heard Sydney call him a dhampir but no one had explained to him what that meant yet. He shrugged and answered her question with a question. "Well, what are you?"

"I'm a moroi, silly", Mia giggled. "See?", she flashed him her little fangs. Dimitri had spent years learned to keep a cool facade, which came in more than handy now. Seeing Mia's fangs almost made him fall out of his tiny pink plastic chair. "Do you have fangs?", Mia asked.

"No".

"Then you're a dhampir", she answered with confidence.

"What if I'm something else?" Dimitri said mostly to himself, as Mia was busy serving Mrs. Nesbith scones.

They played a while longer when Mia started dancing and squirming around in a funny way. "Are you okay, Mia?"

"I have to wee wee, but I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight".

"What if I promise I'll wait for you right here?" Dimitri suggested.

"No. You have to come with me", Mia declared. "I can't reach the light switch".

Dimitri nodded and was quickly led by the hand towards the restroom down the hall. Mia had taken Dimitri so far away from the open space where he last saw Rose, that he seriously doubted that he'd be able to find his back. But at least he had a tiny guide.

In the bathroom Mia turned to Dimitri shyly. "Turn around and close your eyes".

"Okay", he smiled and complied.

"Oh", Mia remembered and she entered one of the stalls, "And sing so I know you didn't leave".

Dimitri chuckled. "What would you like me to sing?"

"Uncle Adrian always sings Shape of You".

Dimitri was entirely sure that song was inappropriate but went along with it anyway. It was the last song he and Rose danced to back when everything in his life was still normal and vampires weren't real.

That's how Dimitri, found himself in the ladies room, facing the door, with his eyes closed, singing Ed Sheeran.

 _Girl you know I want your love_

 _Your love was hand made for somebody like me_

 _Come along follow my lead_

 _I may be crazy don't mind me_

This was the precise moment Rose found Dimitri.

 _Say boy let's not talk to much_

 _Grab on my waist and put that body on me_

 _Come on now follow my lead_

 _Come come on now, follow my lead_

The mixture of emotions that sang through Rose's body was completely foreign to her. Knowing Mia had no doubt orchestrated the whole thing (she did it to Adrian all the time), she found Dimitri adorable for playing along with her.

 _I'm in love with the shape of you_

 _push and pull like a magnet do_

 _although my heart is falling too_

 _I'm in love with your body_

She also found his voice sexy as hell. Rose felt as if it was resonating through her, right to her core. And the song selection just reminded Rose of how she was wrapped in Dimitri's big strong arms and pressed against his hard body just a few hours prior.

 _Last night you were in my room_

 _and now my bedsheets smell like you,_

 _everyday discovering something brand new_

 _I'm in love with the shape of you_

Rose was debating whether to join him, scare him or pull out her phone and video the whole thing. She was pensive for too long. Mia strolled out of the stall, singing along with Dimitri when she spotted Rose holding back giggles (and some drool).

"Aunt Rosie!" Mia exclaimed and ran to her.

If Dimitri was the blushing type he'd have turned a bright red at being caught.

"Hi, Munchkin! I came to relieve you of your duty", Rose said playfully. "Come on, I'll take you back to games room".

In the games room, Rose hugged Mia goodbye, promising she'd see her tomorrow.

Mia tugged on Dimitri's arm motioning for him to kneel beside her. She hugged him fiercely. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked.

Dimitri pulled back to look at the child. "I hope so, Mia".

Mia went back to her tea party and Dimitri and Rose headed to the living quarters which was on the floor below.

"So,um", Rose hesitated, "I need to take a shower and get rid of these clothes. But we can talk after. I'm sure you have a lot of questions".

Dimitri nodded.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? We can swing by the kitchen on the way to my room".

The sun was rising and it was time for breakfast for Dimitri, Dinner for Rose. "Actually I am a bit hungry. I could use a cup of coffee", he yawned loudly.

Rose made 2 sandwiches to take to her room, one for her, and one for Dimitri, while Dimitri made 2 cups of hot coco. By the time they reached Rose's room, the hot coco was all gone.

Rose's room was a mess as usual. Clothes strewn every which way, paperwork scattered on her unmade bed. She quickly collected all her clothes, the dirty into the laundry, the cleans she stuffed back in her closet in a heap. That alone was enough for the room to take shape. As an after thought, she made a neat pile of the papers on her bed and returned them to the folder on her nightstand. Finally she pulled the covers over her bed in a haste to make it look presentable.

"Here", Rose pulled up a chair for Dimitri. "Sit. Eat. I'll be back in a while". Rose excused herself to her ensuite for her well overdue shower.

Standing in front of the mirror Rose wondered if the strigoi blood matted into her hair would even come out… She also wondered if Dimitri would ever look at her the same way he had when they were dancing after seeing her like this.

Dimitri took the opportunity to look around Rose's room. The view was incredible. The sun was raising and it flooded the room with light through the floor to ceiling windows. They were pretty high up, so you could see almost to the park. There was a queen bed with a nightstand on each side, headboard to the wall. There was a closet and a vanity across from the bed on the opposite wall. There were pictures stuck in the mirror frame of the vanity. Dimitri wanted to take a closer look, but felt that would be a bigger invasion of privacy. He ate his sandwich in silence and waited for Rose to return.

Rose took her sweet ass time in the shower, scrubbing every inch of her body to get rid of the strigoi goo. She washed her hair three times. She exfoliated over and over to get the ick off. When she finally deemed herself clean, she dressed in shorts and a camisole, brushed her hair and headed back out to meet Dimitri.

Rose intended on talking with Dimitri, but instead she attacked her sandwich. When she finished inhaling it she yawned loudly.

"Rose, you need to rest. You lost a lot of blood tonight".

Rose shook her head. "You have questions that need answering".

"I do. But you need rest more. And I need to get home".

"You can't", Rose cleared her throat. "You can't leave".

"Am I a prisoner?" He asked.

"No! Of course not. You just can't leave yet".

"Why not?"

"Because you know about this place and about us. So you can't leave. Not until we decide what to do with you. Or more accurately until you decide what to do with you. Right now you're like Alice in wonderland. You need to decide whether you want to tumble down this rabbit whole to see how deep it goes or…"

"Or?" Dimitri prompted.

"Or whether you want to leave wonderland and go back to your regularly scheduled programming".

Dimitri didn't miss the fast that no one told him anything about anything yet, but he went along with Rose's reasoning. "What happens if I decide I don't want to know? That I want to leave wonderland? Right now?"

Rose had no intention of lying to him, he deserved to know the truth. "Then we wipe your memory of last night, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and go back to your normal life".

Dimitri was having trouble dealing with all of this, but one thing stood out. "If I choose to leave now, I won't remember you?"

"No". The next words were out of her mouth before she even had a chance to regret them, "I'm kind of hoping you choose to forget".

Dimitri looked at Rose disbelievingly. He was so hurt she wanted him to forget.

"Don't look at me like that, Dimitri. This life is dangerous".

"I gathered as much", Dimitri answered, unsure how he found his voice.

"You don't know the half of it", Rose retorted, sternly. "You get to choose to live a different life than this. You get to choose to _live_ ".

"Do you want me to forget you?" Dimitri asked flatly.

Rose was caught completely off guard. "What?"

"Do. You. Want. Me. To. Forget. You?" Dimitri annunciated every word, as if Rose didn't understand him.

"No." Rose whispered but that didn't take away from the conviction in her voice.

"Then I'm staying", Dimitri declare.

Rose gasped. "You don't know what you're saying. You don't know anything about this place".

"Then tell me about", Dimitri pleaded. "Tomorrow. After you've had rest. For now, I'm staying".

Rose nodded. She was too tired to argue. And truthfully, she wanted as much time with Dimitri as possible, because she knew as soon as he was told everything about her world, he'd run for the hills.

"Um, Rose? Where am I supposed to sleep?"

Rose's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that. "I guess here. With me. We don't have any spare rooms. I hope you mind," Rose stammered, suddenly aware of the fact that she'd be sharing her bed with the man she'd just met. Dimitri shook his head. He didn't mind at all.

Rose pulled back the covers on her bed and laid down. "I'm sorry, I don't have any clothes to give you to sleep in".

"It's fine. I'm used to sleeping in my clothes. I work shifts at the hospital", Dimitri shrugged.

"The bathroom's through there if you need it", Rose pointed to her ensuite.

Dimitri excused himself. After relieving his bladder and brushing his teeth with his finger, he rejoined Rose. Dimitri removed his shoes and socks and hesitantly got in bed with Rose, wondering if maybe he should have offered to sleep on the floor.

"Relax, comrade. I'm not going to bite you". Rose said and Dimitri laid his head on the pillow she offered.

Dimitri chuckle nervously. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything".

"Um, do you have fangs?"

Rose laughed whole heartedly. "No!"

The sound of Rose's laugh was like music to Dimitri's ears. He wanted to hear it more. Dimitri slowly calmed and unwound. He stretched all six foot seven of himself out on Rose's bed. _Much better than the on call room beds_ , he thought. Especially considering his bunk mate.

"Good night, Roza", Dimitri murmured before falling into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter3- The Burden of Glorious Purpose

_A/N:_

 _Alright, so here's chapter 3! It might get a little hard to follow but bare with me. The tedious part will be over soon. Promise!_

 _Thanks to all the readers, followers and favoriter!_

 _Thank you for the reviews, I loved them, they were heartwarming._

 _On chapter 3!_

 _Don't forget to review at the end!_

 _Thanks,_

 _K_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 3 - The Burden of Glorious Purpose_**

Dimitri woke up alone in a strange bed, in a strange room. It took a second for him to remember the events of the last twenty four hours. He was dragged to club by an old friend who just happened to be in town on business (who ended up ditching him) when he met a girl. A girl who would no doubt turn his world upside down. There was an instant connection. She was gorgeous and funny. And killed vampires for a living, apparently.

He remembered dancing with her, how his whole body suddenly felt alive. He wanted to kiss her so much it hurt. Even after everything that happened since, he still wanted to. He wanted to run his fingers through her thick locks, he wanted to press his lips to hers, he wanted to feel her body against his own. For the first time since he woke up, he was glad he was alone and not embarrassing himself with that pesky morning glory.

Dimitri idly wondered what he should do. He knew he wasn't supposed to leave the compound but could he leave the room? Even if he did, would he know where to go?

Lucky for him, Rose returned from where ever she had been.

"Sleeping beauty awakes", she smiled. "Here", Rose handed him a mug. "I brought you coffee".

"Thank you", Dimitri sat up and took a sip from the mug. "How are you feeling?" he was referring to the massive blood loss Rose had suffered.

"Peachy keen, Jelly bean", Rose smile. "Do you want some breakfast?", she bit her bottom lip.

Dimitri cut right to the chase, "I'd like to talk now, if that's alright".

Rose nodded for him to continue.

"What is a dhampir?" The question had been burning through Dimitri's mind from the moment he first heard Sydney utter that word.

Nothing could have prepared Dimitri for Rose's answer, "It's a human vampire hybrid".

"And you're a dhampir?", Dimitri nearly stuttered.

Rose nodded.

"Mia said she's a moroi", it was more of a question that a statement.

"That's right", Rose replied. "So is Lissa. Moroi are vampires, they have fangs and they drink blood. But they have a heartbeat and magic and a soul. They're born of other moroi. They die just as easily as humans. They can walk in the sun and they don't kill when they feed. They're the good vampires". Rose smiled at the picture she painted quiet eloquently in her opinion.

"So if there are good vampires, what are bad vampires?" Dimitri asked, still trying to process the fact that vampires are real.

"You met one last night. That thing I killed. That was a strigoi. They are soulless creatures. They burn in the sunlight. They're immortal, undead. It's magic that keeps them alive. They kill when feeding. They're stronger and faster than anything you can imagine. They are made, not born. And they are very difficult to kill".

Dimitri felt as if any new information he got only raised more question. "Made? How do you make a strigoi?"

"Strigoi are either humans, dhampirs, or moroi who were turned by other strigoi, some consensually, others against their will. Or", Rose hesitated, not knowing if she should continue, but went on anyway, "they were once a moroi who purposefully took a life while feeding".

"So if strigoi are made, how do you make a vampire hybrid?", Dimitri inquired.

Rose smiled warmly. He had so much to learn. "We're born. I was born to a moroi father and a dhampir mother. Most of us are".

Dimitri processed this in silence. As a child practically born in an orphanage he often wondered about his birth parents. Now more then ever he wished he'd known at least what they were.

Rose continued, "Us dhampirs, we're are strong and fast, more than any moroi. We are all that stands in the way of the strigoi. We train to fight them but…"

"But what?" Dimitri pushed.

"It's not enough. They are stronger and faster and ruthless. The kill without remorse. Even the fiercest of us have been taken down". Rose's eyes became misty.

Dimitri didn't want Rose to dwell on what was obviously a sad memory. "You said moroi have magic. What does that mean?"

"To a some degree, the moroi can wield the elements - earth, wind, fire, water. When a moroi hits puberty, they specialize in an element. And we recently discovered a new element - spirit".

Dimitri nodded numbly. He was beginning to overload. Before anything else could be said, he asked abruptly, "What am I?"

"You're a dhampir". Rose answered without hesitation.

"How do you know? You just met me!" Dimitri wanted it not to be true. Finding out about this secret world was one thing. Being told that you belong in it was another.

"Every living thing gives off a unique vibe. You have the vibe of a dhampir". When Dimitri didn't look convinced, Rose continued, "You told me last night that you enjoy playing sports. Didn't you ever notice how easily it came to you? How you were always better than everyone else? Always stronger, always faster?" Dimitri looked at Rose blankly. She added, "Didn't you ever wonder why you've never been sick? Or that you can hear things others can't?"

Dimitri's silence was staggering.

"Alberta wants to meet you", Rose continued. "Talk to you, maybe run some tests, just to be sure". She was trying to easy his mind. She was sure. Beyond any doubt the he was in fact a dhampir.

He nodded. Dimitri was shellshocked, but he still needed more. "What's the sisterhood?"

Rose smiled sadly. Dimitri was getting more inquisitive and less appeased with each of her answers. If only he'd drop the whole thing and go home to his normal life. Rose opened her mouth and thus began the history lesson, "We've had many names through the centuries. Our roots date as far back as the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. Back then, we were known as the Order of the Dragomir. It means we cherished peace. But then in the fifteenth century the Hungarians basically plagiarized our name when they started the Order of the Dragon, with which we have _no_ affiliation", Rose chuckled. "There's an old wive's tale that for a while were were known as the Draco League, to get back at those assholes, which is why our emblem is a dragon. Anyway, in the end we formed the Sisterhood".

"And what is it that this organization does?"

"We have been burdened with glorious purpose", Rose answered almost mechanically. The moto had been drilled into her practically since birth.

Dimitri raised his eyebrow, questioning what that purpose was. "Which is?"

Despite the nature of their discussion, Rose found that gesture so very _hot_. She swallowed hard before answering. "To protect those who can't protect themselves from the threat of strigoi. They come first. We are bound by this sacred duty, moroi and dhampir, alike. Dhampir with our fighting skills and moroi with their magic. Together we make up the Sisterhood of Slayers. The Sisterhood for short".

"Slayers?" Dimitri was dumbfounded.

Rose nodded. "I'm a slayer, like my mother before me. Most dhampir woman are".

"What do you slay?"

"Strigoi. The bad vampires".

"So why is it a sisterhood? Why not call it an alliance or fellowship or whatever?"

 _Caught on to that quickly,_ Rose thought. "While the sisterhood is comprised of men and women, moroi and dhampir, it was named as such because it is the dhampir woman who do the fighting".

Dimitri was almost afraid to ask, "Where are the dhampir men?"

Rose pursed her lips, stalling before giving the answer, the one thing that would more than likely send him running. "There aren't any".

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. "What do you mean there _aren't_ any? At all?"

"Well, not at all. There are several scattered here and there in other branches of the sisterhood. But, you're currently the only one here".

"How is that possible?" Dimitri pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We don't know. One day, about 3 centuries ago, the males just stopped being born. It took a long time before anyone noticed", Rose said. "Back then it was thought that a curse had been placed on us. Today we know better. Sydney's got a few theories about our freaky genetics that might have caused this. Plus she also thinks it has something to due with the fact that dhampirs can reproduce together. There are but a few males born in every generation. You're a rarity, Dimitri. Practically a myth. That's why Sydney was so adamant about bringing you in", Rose trailed off at the horrified look on Dimitri's face. Had she gone too far?

"Are you saying I can't have children?" Dimitri was a little breathless.

"Dhampirs, male or female, can have babies with Moroi, or even with humans. But throughout history, there haven't been any documented cases of dhampirs getting pregnant from other dhampirs".

"Oh". What else was he supposed to say? Dimitri threw himself back in bed. He'd had enough. That was too much, too fast. He needed time to process. He was basically a one of a kind.

"There's something else", Rose said weakly.

"What else could there possibly be?" Dimitri groaned and rubbed his hands on his face.

That's when Rose caught a glimpse of her alarm clock. "Shit!" She exclaimed and was on her feet in a blink of an eye. "I need to get you to Alberta, pronto! I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this. She wanted to be the one to disclose all this information so just pretend to be surprised when she more of less repeats everything I just told you", Rose instructed Dimitri as she pulled him towards her door.

"Wait! Can I use the bathroom and brush me teeth before we go?!"

* * *

While Dimitri was being held hostage in Alberta's office, probably getting the full presentation Sydney had prepared in advance for an occasion such as this, Rose remember the conversation she had with her surrogate mother earlier that morning in the kitchen.

 _"I've been trying to get in touch with Abe Mazur since you brought Dimitri in. He's not answering any contact number we have on file. But I have no doubt he has something to do with this. 'Mazur Grant' my ass", she even used air quotes and rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should try calling him, Rose?"_

 _"Why would he answer a call from me?"_

 _"Because you're his daughter", Alberta answered._

 _"I know that!", Rose hissed. "But I haven't seen or heard from him in months", she threw up her arms._

 _"Rose, I know your relationship with Abe is cold and infrequent, but we could really use his input. Please, just try. For Dimitri". Alberta knew she was hitting below the belt but sometimes the only way to get through to Rose was by playing on her emotions and her sense of duty and honor. A little guilt trip never hurt anyone._

 _Rose crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. "Fine! But don't come crying to me when this fails epically!" She stamped away with the coffee mug for Dimitri._

Rose had been staring at her phone and biting her nails for the better part of an hour. She had, of course, called her father as soon as Dimitri stepped into Alberta's office. There was no answer - big surprise. Rose left a message and didn't have any hope that anyone would be getting back to her any time soon.

"Are you waiting for a call?" Lissa interrupted Rose's staring at her phone.

"No. I'm just waiting for Alberta to be done with Dimitri", then Rose looked to Sydney when she joined them as well, "Jeez, Syd, are you sure that your presentation is long enough? The poor guy has been in there for over an hour!"

Sydney ignored the sharp tone of Rose's voice and answered, "It's a comprehensive overview of the Sisterhood and all vampiric races. These are all things Dimitri needs to know. Besides this will just get him more up to speed for when he commences his training".

Rose's eyes widened. "Who said anything about training?! We don't even know if he's staying!"

"He has to stay! We need him. You have to convince him to stay, Rose, you can't let him leave", Sydney declared.

"It's not up to me, Syd. And even if it was, I'd rather he went home and stayed out of harms way", Rose went back to biting her nails.

"But, Rose, the prophecy-"

Rose slammed her palms on the table, silencing Sydney at once. "I don't give a shit about the prophecy, Syd! That stupid prophecy probably has nothing to do with Dimitri". Rose didn't want to admit out loud that it was in all likelihood going to get him killed. She grabbed her phone and walked away to blow off some steam.

* * *

Alberta opened the door to the roof of the Sisterhood building and revealed Rose dancing with a sword. Ever since she was a little girl, Rose loved practicing her katana kata. Even in the most trying times, it brought her solace. It was a source of peace for her when her mother was out slaying and then when she disappeared. Rose would shut out the world and move to music in her own head. She'd practice so much that her moves were perfection. Rose Hathaway was a force to be reckoned with and her skills with the katana were unmatched. Unfortunately, the long blade was unpractical and ineffective against strigoi.

Alberta had finished up with Dimitri and offered him the chance to train and make a difference by fighting the forces of darkness. But when all was said and done, all Dimitri could do was ask for Rose. So Alberta lead him to the only place she knew Rose would go to unwind.

Watching Rose on that roof, Dimitri had never seen anything so beautiful. Rose was all power and grace. She hadn't bothered to put her hair up so it was blowing in the wind around her. She looked like a warrior goddess and Dimitri was ready to kneel before her.

Rose didn't notice her audience until Alberta cleared her throat.

"Hi", Rose said as she sheathed her katana.

"Hello", Dimitri found his voice.

"How'd you know I was here, Bertie?" Rose gathered her hair to one side.

"Please, child, give me some credit. I have been raising you since you were ten years old", Alberta smile indulgently. She cleared her throat again and continued, "Dimitri has asked for some time before he makes any decisions. I suggested he stayed on with us for a few days, tour the facility, maybe some training sessions, get a real feel of what we do here".

Rose nodded knowing she'd be the one to give the tour and probably the training as well. Alberta muttered something about sending Adrian and Sydney to fetch some of Dimitri's clothes and shoes from his apartment before excusing herself.

"Hi", Rose repeated lamely once Alberta was gone.

"Hello", Dimitri said again with a smile.

"So, how did it go?"

"It went", Dimitri sighed. "Alberta told me pretty much what you told me. But with more details. _Much_ more details".

Rose chuckled. "Well, she was excited. She's never done that particular presentation before. There's never been anyone who needed it".

They silently stared into each others' eyes, not moving. Not talking. Just being.

"Come on", it was Rose who broke the trance. "I'll give you that tour now. Follow me". Rose turned.

Dimitri grabbed her hand and stopped her. "I'd follow you anywhere", he said in a husky tone, that did things to Rose on a primal level, "but right now I have to know something".

Rose was too dizzy with emotion to react. Dimitri pulled her to him, he ran one hand through her hair and wrapped the other around her waist, pressing their bodies together, taking care to stay clear of her katana.

Before Rose could even think about what was happening, Dimitri's lips were on hers and they were kissing fiercely. Despite the foot of difference in height, they fit perfectly together. Their lips moved in utter synchronicity. Dimitri didn't think he could be more intoxicated by Rose, but the taste of her sent every one of his senses into a frenzy. The second their lips touched, Dimitri knew he was a goner.

Rose had never been kissed like that. With the smallest touch of his lips, Rose felt like Dimitri had lit every one of her nerve endings on fire. She was left breathless and weak in the knees. If Dimitri hadn't been holding her up, she would have likely ended up on her ass.

It could have been minutes or hours before they came back up for air.

"I'm sorry", Dimitri murmured, his hands still cupping Rose's cheek. "I had to know what it was like to kiss you".

Rose nodded and held on to Dimitri for a while longer. "What's the verdict, comrade?"

Dimitri chuckled. "I'd say you're guilty as charged".

"And what's my crime?" Rose asked in a flirty voice.

Dimitri shook his head playfully. "I'll tell you another time. How about that tour?"


	4. Chapter 4 - The Tour

_A/N:_

 _Hi All. Here's chapter 4. Since there were no notifications all last week, please make sure you've read the previous chapter before reading this one._

 _As always, thanks for reading, following, favoriting and especially reviewing._

 _Hope you like this chapter._ _It's on the short side but I promise the next one is longer and full of action. And the wait won't be long._

 _Don't forget to review!_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 4 - The Tour _**

Rose was still a little dizzy from the kiss on the roof when she lead Dimitri to the classrooms on the first 2 floors of the facility, since he'd already seen HQ and the dormitories on the top floors. For the time being Rose decided on skipping the armory…

The classrooms were filled with young girls and boys ranging from ages 6 to 16, though the majority were girls. Since classes were in session, Rose and Dimitri traveled the halls (which was or the best, Rose didn't want Dimitri turning into a main attraction), as she filled him in on what the kids were studying.

"It's not what I imagined them learning", Dimitri remarked at the content. The younger classes were learning reading and writing while the older classes were learning calculus and science. "I kinda thought it would all be combat and violence classes", he said sheepishly, embarrassed by his own narrow-mindedness. He half expected a scene from a B movie where he would open a door to a ninja training facility, climbing ropes hanging from the ceiling and all.

Rose smirked, "Oh, our training facility and all equipment is on the lower levels. Besides, those classes are earlier in the day and are for the older dhampir students. That's when the moroi learn to use the elemental magic". She had the satisfaction of watching Dimitri's eyes widen. "We still want the education here to be well rounded and not just about maiming and killing or battle magic".

"So you do teach Slayage 101 here?" Dimitri smiled.

Rose pressed her lips together, holding back a laugh and nodding. "We have a wide curriculum of rigorous physical training. Come on, I'll show you the basement", Rose was still smirking. "Actually there might still be some trainees down there".

On their way down, Rose informed Dimitri of what their training entailed. It was brutal. From a young age, they started working on speed and endurance, balance and reflexes. Later on they added combat. Sometime, the only thing that saved you in battle was muscle memory so they spent hours and hours sparring. Lastly was weapons training and staking practice.

"Staking?" Dimitri asked. So much of what he'd heard about vampires was completely different and wrong from what any books or movies showed. He half expected the same regarding staking.

"Yes, staking. There are 3 ways to kill a strigoi. Well, 4 if you count daylight".

Dimitri listened as if this knowledge was one day save his life. Hell, it probably would.

"So the 3 ways to kill a strigoi are a charmed silver stake through the heart, decapitation or fire."

"Charmed? what does that mean?"

"Charmed with the elements", Rose said as they walked through the double doors that opened into a huge training area.

To the far back of the gargantuan gym was a redheaded girl practicing archery. She was practicing shooting while moving. But when she heard the noise Rose and Dimitri made as they walked into the gym, she accidentally released an arrow, that was not aimed at the targets at all. This arrow was headed straight for Rose.

Luckily Rose had years of training and her reflexes were unlike any others'. She sidestepped out of the way, the arrow just missing her. She was expecting to hear the thud as the arrow hit the door that closed behind her and Dimitri, but none came. Turning to face the space she had occupied a nanosecond ago she was shocked to she the arrow suspended in the air. Dimitri had caught the arrow with his bare hand, as if on instinct.

Dimitri stared at his own hand and gasped. He dropped the arrow that clambered on the floor and took a step back. Dimitri had never done anything like that. His mind didn't process that the arrow's trajectory was Rose, but his body certainly did.

If Rose hadn't moved out of the way, Dimitri's catch would have saved her life.

Rose gazed at Dimitri, silently asking if he was okay. When Dimitri nodded slightly, Rose turned to the girl who was in a state of shock, and not just because of the rogue arrow. The girl had never seen a male dhampir before.

"Dalia!", Rose chastised. "What the hell?! Do you have any idea how irresponsible and reckless that was?!"

The girl suddenly realized what she'd done and started apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry Rose, you distracted me". Then Dalia shrugged, "At least this time I used the arrow head with the dull tips".

Rose sighed in exasperation. "Distractions will get you or one of your sisters killed", She said sternly.

Dalia looked pointedly at her own feet, feeling ashamed of what nearly happened. "I didn't mean to". She was on the verge of tears. Her embarrassment and frustration only grew because she'd made a spectacle of herself in front of a male dhampir. And a cute one, at that.

Rose huffed. "Alright, hit the showers. But if I ever see or hear about anything like this again, I'm reporting it to Alberta. Got it?"

Dalia sagged in relief and nodded before scampering off.

"I swear, that kid is always in trouble", Rose remarked about the 13 year old redhead.

"Something tells me she's not the only one".

Rose scoffed. "You think I'm always in trouble?"

Dimitri shrugged in non committal. "Why else would you have let her off with a warning? She could have seriously injured you, or anyone else who came through that door with slower reflexes".

"Thanks, by the way. For catching the arrow". Rose cleared her throat. "How did you do that anyway?"

"I have no idea. I'm just glad my instinct was to catch it and not stop the damn thing with my… me". Dimitri answered, a little puzzled by his own reply.

"Let's see what else you can do", Rose sauntered to the center of the sparring mats, motioning for Dimitri to follow.

Dimitri shook his head with an indulgent expression but stepped forward none the less. "You should know, I dabbled in some boxing in college and I did martial arts growing up", Dimitri smiled proudly.

"Show me what you got, comrade".

Dimitri couldn't help but remember how Rose moved when she took down the strigoi the night before. He swallow hard, knowing he was going to get his ass handed to him. Then again, he did catch that arrow mid air, so maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't look like a total fool.

They circled each other for a while. Dimitri was mimicking Rose's stance, figuring it was his best shot at this point.

Rose threw a relatively slow punch at him, as a warm up, just to see how Dimitri handled himself.

Dimitri easily blocked. So Rose threw a fast punch, followed by a faster punch, followed by a faster punch. Each time, Dimitri blocked or sidestepped.

"Impressive for someone with no training", Rose remarked.

She was truly impressed, so she upped her game with a combination of punches and high kicks. Dimitri took a hit to the side with a grunt and another hit to the back that left him winded.

"Stop going on the defensive and hit me!", Rose commanded.

The tone of her voice suddenly turned something on in Dimitri like a switch. He stepped forward and attacked, jab, jab, right hook. Rose blocked and ducked. It seemed like Dimitri was on full alert.

Rose slugged him in the gut and stepped back. She wiggle her ass just a little when she playfully said, "This is really fun".

Dimitri surprised her with his wind grin. "It is".

Rose took that as her queue, swept Dimitri's legs and knocked him to the mats. He never even saw it coming. Rose had him pinned both both arms above his head as she straddled him.

Dimitri was panting. And it wasn't just from the exertion of the fight.

Rose held her place astride Dimitri's lap, staring down at him. In that moment, she was sure Dimitri was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. She sat there for longer than sparring dictated was necessary or acceptable. Much longer. She couldn't drag her eyes away from his. Those bottomless brown orbs were practically sparkling.

Dimitri cocked his eyebrow. With boldness he'd never had before, Dimitri asked, "So, you got any other moves you wanna show me?"

Rose was off him in a second and pulling him to his feet. Rose was stuck in her perfect little world where she could pretend anything was possible until Dimitri spoke and ruined everything. He ruined everything by reminding her was an actual flesh and blood man, not a mirage. A man who would likely get killed if he stuck around her for too long. Just like her mom.

Rose headed towards the door, making sure Dimitri knew the moment was over. Dimitri trailed behind her while she lead the way back upstairs to HQ. As far as Rose was concerned, the tour was over, she'd done her job.

Rose spotted Adrian by his desk and marched right up to him. "I need to talk to Alberta. Can you watch him?" she pointed at Dimitri, who was taken aback by Rose's coldness.

"Actually," Adrian replied, "Syd and I just got back from his apartment and put his stuff in your room. I could take him there", he suggested. "He looks like he could use a shower and a change of clothes", Adrian made a face.

"Fine", Rose answered.

She started to walk off towards Alberta's office when Dimitri grabbed her arm and spun her around. "I'm sorry for what I said, Rose. I didn't mean to offend you", the regret and pain was evident in his eyes.

Rose shook her head. "You didn't say anything wrong. Just go with Adrian. I have to talk to Alberta", her voice was apologetic.

Dimitri left with Adrian. As soon as he was out of sight Rose marched straight to Alberta's office. There was a meeting that Rose chose to ignore. "I need to talk to you. Now. Please".

Alberta's eyes widened at Rose's plea. Rose never said please. It must be serious.

In an attempt to still seem like the person in charge, Alberta cleared the room, "Rose, I'm very interested in your report on the Doctor. Please excuse us", she addressed the room.

Once everyone cleared out Rose crumbled to the seat closest to Alberta. "Send him away, Bertie. Please", Rose spoke softly, her voice trembling.

"What's going on? Did he do something?" Alberta rubbed her back.

Rose rolled her eyes. "He didn't do anything. He's a good man, Alberta. We can't do this to him".

"Do what? All we're doing is offering him a chance to do what he was born to do".

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not so sure. What if he was meant to be a doctor? What if he's not cut out for this life?"

"He seems to be taking everything well so far. He hasn't expressed wanting to leave yet. In fact he was eager to learn more. I got the feeling he was going to try and find information on his birth parents". Alberta paused, then asked, "What is this really about?"

"We're going to get him killed", Rose replied. "I get that you think he's our savior or salvation or whatever. But you know I never believed in that stupid prophesy. And I don't want him to die!" Rose was a bit incoherent. Alberta hadn't seen Rose so emotional since Jeanine went MIA.

And that's when it dawned on Alberta. Rose wasn't worried that Dimitri's blood would be on her hands. She was genuinely afraid of losing him. Alberta didn't think Rose would get so attached to this man so soon. She was left at a loss for words. "Let's give it another night. Take him out hunting with you tonight, so he can see how we operate. The decision is still his, not yours or mine or anyone else's".

Rose huffed. "Sydney doesn't seem to agree with that. She told me to convince him to stay by any means necessary. She actually insinuated that I spread my legs for him. What does she think I have? A magical pussy?"

Ignoring Rose's crudeness, Alberta answered diplomatically, "I do agree that if anyone could convince Dimitri to stay, it would be you. But I hardly think Sydney would pimp you out, dear".

"I wouldn't put it past her. She's spends way to much time with Adrian".

* * *

Dimitri followed Adrian reluctantly back to Rose's room.

"So, what were you apologizing for, big guy?"

"That's between Rose and I", Dimitri answered stiffly.

"Jeez, lighten up. I didn't mean anything by it". Adrian held up his palms in surrender. "So, how was the tour?" he was trying to make small talk as they made their way to the dormitories.

"Enlightening", Dimitri replied dryly.

Adrian came to the conclusion that Dimitri was going to be a tough cookie to break. But no one, not even this lonely dhampir, could resist Adrian's charms for long.

"Rose seems taken with you", Adrian remarked. Dimitri had no answer, so Adrian continued. "Which is why I think you should leave sooner rather than later".

"What?" Dimitri barked at his companion.

Adrian left all playfulness aside. "The longer you stay, the more she'll get attached to you and the more her heart will break when you decide to leave".

Adrian suddenly didn't seem like such a worm to Dimitri. "Who said I'm leaving?"

When they reached the privacy of Rose's room, Adrian gave Dimitri the duffle bag full of things from his apartment. "Look, all you've seen till now is fun and games. You've never been on the hunt. Never slayed. You don't really know what this life is about. And yet you're being asked to make a decision whether you want to leave everything and everyone you know behind, to build a life from scratch. A life of full of scars and loss". Apparently Adrian could b quite poetic when he wanted to be. He took a deep breath once he finished his trance-like speech. "There's something I think you should know before you make that decision". Adrian knew Sydney was going to kill him for this. But Dimitri had a right to know. "There's this old prophesy about a male dhampir…"


	5. Chapter 5 - A Night out on the town

_A/N:  
Hi!_

 _Here's chapter 5 for ya'll._

 _The editing might be a bit iffy but I literally just got home from the Aerosmith concert (!) but it was really important to me to get this chapter out so here it is!_

 _So where and when was the last convert you were at?_

 _Let me know in the comments!_

 _Don't forget to like/fave/review if you enjoyed the read or really wanna criticize, or even if you just wanna say hi!_

Cheers

K

* * *

 ** _Chapter 5 - A Night out on the town_**

Dimitri went through the duffle bag with his belonging that Adrian and Sydney collected. No doubt Sydney gathered the essentials - his shaving kit, toothbrush, shampoo and hairbrush, boots as well as sneakers, attire that ranged from casual to sports to something that was more suited to evening wear. They even thoughtfully packed the book he was reading that was placed on his nightstand. _Sydney must really want me to stay_ , Dimitri thought. He imagined Adrian was mainly in charge of socks and shorts. The thought was disturbing. Then again, Adrian had given him a lot of food for thought that was disturbing on a whole other level.

By the time Rose got the her room, Dimitri was already showered and freshly saved. The smell of his aftershave filled Rose's room and assaulted her in the most delicious way.

Dimitri was sitting on Rose's bed, back propped up against the head board, legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle. Rose never thought anyone could look so sexy just lounging around reading a book. Especially a western.

"What?" Dimitri questioned Rose's staring.

Rose swallowed hard. "Alberta wants me to take the team out hunting".

"Right now?" Dimitri questioned.

"Yes. There are still 3 or 4 hours before dawn breaks. And this is the city that never sleep. We might just get luck".

"Can I come with you?" Dimitri asked tentatively.

"Unfortunately, yes. Alberta wants you with us", Rose answered morosely. "I'm just going to change and we can get going. The girls are going to meet us by the van". Rose spotted Dimitri's shoes by his duffle bag, "Wear the boots".

Dimitri nodded as Rose grabbed a dress and high heels and went to her ensuite to change. When she returned Dimitri's breath caught. Rose's dress was so tight he wasn't sure how she could breathe. It was so short he couldn't really call it a dress. Her heels were a least 6 inches. Her make up was light, her hair was down. There was no doubt that Rose Hathaway was a gorgeous woman. He just couldn't figure out why she was dressed like a common street walker.

"Shouldn't you be wearing something that's more comfortable to move around in? You know, for hunting?" Dimitri couldn't help but ask. His tone wasn't accusatory, it was sincere interest.

"While I'm the slayer on this team, I'm also the bait", Rose answered without looking Dimitri in the eyes. "Besides, this is comfortable. This dress is specially tailored. It's like a second skin. Plus the heels on these shoes are double as stakes".

On the elevator on the way down to the garage, Rose was telling Dimitri what he could expect. "This is what's going to happen. I'm going to go into a club where we recently got tipped that strigoi are frequenting. It's probably nothing. But I go in alone. That's how I work. You", Rose poked Dimitri's chest, "are staying in the van with Lissa and Sydney".

"But I can help you".

"No, you can't. You're a distraction", Rose tried not to let on how much of a distraction he could be. Even now in the elevator, wearing that ridiculous duster of his.

Rose's words from earlier in the training room echoed in Dimitri's head - _Distractions get you killed_. Dimitri nodded his consent.

Once the teamed piled into the van, Sydney drove, as always. Lisaa was in the back showing Dimitri their gadgets.

"So, this is the ear piece and mic set that Rose usually prefers, but sometimes these things get jammed".

"So how do you communicate when that happens?" Dimitri asked worriedly.

Lissa was about to answer, when they arrived at their destination and Rose turned to the back. "Stay put", Rose was sternly addressing Dimitri.

As Rose made her way to the front entrance, Sydney revved the van and parked it around the entrance, where they were less noticeable.

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "How's she gonna get in? There's still a line outside", he murmured mostly to himself, but Lissa heard loud and clear.

She flipped a switch and all the lights in the console she was playing at started blinking. "Coms are on, Rose can you hear me?"

"Always. And Belikov, how am I going to get in? Please, have you seen me?" Rose's answer echoed through the van.

Lissa giggled at Dimitri's mortified expression. "How did she hear me if the coms were off?"

"You may as well tell him", Syd said from her position in the front seat. "He's going to find out eventually".

The music that was playing in the dinky club Rose was in filled the van, signaling to all that she did in fact get past the bouncer.

"Well, as you may know, I'm a moroi, and as such I specialized in an element. But it wasn't in earth, fire, air or water. I specialized in something completely different. An element that was so rare it was forgotten".

"Spirit", Dimitri noted.

"Yes. Well, with great power comes great responsibility", Lissa had always wanted to say that. "Anyway, spirit doesn't materialize like other elements. It's much less obvious. Everyone thought I just didn't specialize. That changed one day 2 years ago when Rose was hurt and I healed her". Lissa let that hang in the air.

"You treated her wounds?" Dimitri asked.

"No. I healed her. With magic".

"Oh". What else could he say.

"We were in an accident with my family. A drunk driver slammed into us and threw us off the road. I lost my parents and brother in that crash. Rose and I were the only survivors", a single tear drizzled down Lissa's cheek. It was still difficult for her to talk about. She wiped the tear away. "Well, as it turns out, Rose didn't survive. She died and I brought her back. And because of it, we're bonded. She can sense me, hear my thoughts, feel my emotions".

Dimitri hadn't been this shocked since he found out about vampires.

"Breathe Dimitri", Rose chimed in through the coms.

He didn't even realize he was holding his breath. "You died, Roza?" Dimitri asked through the coms, horrified. Images of dead bodies he'd seen in his line of work flashed through his mind, but all the faces were Rose's.

"Yes, but only for a few minutes", Rose answered nonchalantly. "Best sweet 16 present ever", she added sarcastically.

Dimitri composed himself rather quickly and asked, "So you can hear each other's thought?"

"No, the stupid bond is only one way", Lissa answered as they heard Rose get offered a drink. "She can hear me, but I can't hear her. It took us months to learn how to block each other out".

"Worst months of my life!" Rose shrieked after declined the drink offer. "Sparky really needs to get a tan. Maybe his pasty ass would have been less offensive".

Sydney snickered in the front seat as Lissa chastised Rose.

"I said I was sorry, what more do you want?" Lissa crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Hey!", Sydney interjected. "It was very useful the other night when you blatantly ignored me in your earpiece!"

"Oh that reminds", Rose said suddenly, "Don't scream in my head, Liss! My ears were ringing!"

"At least it got your attention while you were otherwise engaged", Lissa and Sydney looked pointedly at Dimitri.

That's when he realized they were talking about him and they other night when they were dancing. He remembered Rose suddenly flinch right before she excused herself.

Dimitri smirked proudly. Rose was on into him that night that she didn't hear Lissa and Sydney through her earpiece.

"Shit", Rose muttered under her breath, but it was loud enough to hear in the coms. "I got one".

"Don't sound so excited", Sydney said, noting that Rose wasn't as enthusiastic as she normally would be.

"It's a she. The strigoi is a she. And by the way she's surrounding herself with men, I'm gonna go on a limb here and say I'm not her type".

"I thought you were everyone's type", Sydney mocked at Rose's words from long ago, "Guess you're up, Slick", She told a dumbfounded Dimitri.

"Absolutely not!" Rose yelled in her coms.

"Rose, you'll be close and he'll be fine". Syd insisted.

"No".

"He's just going to be the bait. All he has to do is lead her away. You're still gonna do the slaying".

"Absolutely not", Rose repeated vehemently.

"Let me do this Rose", Dimitri jumped in. "You said I need to know what this life is about. This is my chance. Please".

"Fine", Rose barked. "But I swear, if you get killed, I'm having Lissa bring you back just so I can kill you again myself!"

Syd stepped out of the van and opened the back. Lissa passed her a case as Dimitri stepped down from the van. Syd opened the case and handed Dimitri an earpiece.

Dimitri took it and placed it in his ear, like he saw Rose do.

"Can you hear me?" Lissa asked, referring to the functionality of the earpiece.

Dimitri nodded.

Sydney took out the next item from the case. She handed Dimitri a silver stake. "Tuck it into your waistband, on your back".

Dimitri was apprehensive. He had no idea how to use a stake. But took it anyway, just in case.

"It's not that hard", Sydney tried to get Dimitri to relax with a little white lie as he took the stake and hid it under his shirt. "You're a doctor. You know where the heart is and what's in front of it. Just put the pointy end through the heart and you'll be golden".

"Lose the duster, cowboy", Lissa added. "You look like the fuzz".

Sydney chuckled. "And the hair tie".

Again, Dimitri did as he was told, then made his was to the entrance. By this hour the line had dwindled to almost nothing. Dimitri had no trouble getting in.

Once inside, he spotted Rose and they made eye contact. "At your 3 o'clock".

Dimitri turned and spotted it. The strigoi. Off to the side of the dance floor, a blond bombshell surround by 3 young men who were wrapped around her.

"Close your mouth Dimitri", Rose castigated.

Dimitri swallowed. "I just didn't think she'd look so…"

"Hot?" Rose asked.

"Human", he answered.

"Can we get on with this, please?" Syd pipped up on the coms.

"What do I do?" Dimitri asked.

"You need to get her attention. Get her interested in you. She needs to want to take you somewhere where she won't be interrupted while she's feeding".

"Okay", he said. It was more of a question.

Then he got an idea. Dimitri got 2 shots of vodka from the bar and headed straight for the strigoi. He told himself that it would be much easier for him if he pretended that she was just a woman he was going to hit on, not a strigoi who could easily break his neck.

He walked up to her and handed her one of the shot glasses, completely ignoring her other would be suitors.

"You look like you could use a drink", he said with a thick accent. Woman loved an accent. Rose certainly seemed to. For good measure he added, "And a man", he winked, implying that he was much better suited for her than there others pawing at her.

Dimitri took the shot glass and pressed it against his cheek with his palm flat. He rolled the glass to his mouth, tilted his head back, drank the shot, rolled the glass on his other cheek, then dropped the shot glass from his face and caught it with his other hand. All in one quick fluid motion.

This must have intrigued the strigoi because she made a hand gesture and quickly dismissed the crowd. She handed the shot glass back to Dimitri and coyly said, "Show me that again".

Dimitri smirked. "Dance with me and I'll show you anything you like", his voice was husky.

Rose was getting hot and bothered just listening from the side. That trick Dimtiri did with the shot glass was sexy beyond words. Rose seriously wanted to stake the strigoi bitch through the heart right here in the middle of the club.

Her rage only grew when Dimitri and the bloodsucker started dancing.

After only a few minutes, Dimitri suggested they leave. "Let's get out of here".

The strigoi threw her head back and laughed. "You don't even know my name".

"You can't tell me you actually care what my name is", Dimitri answered as though this was just a regular hook up.

The strigoi pulled back just the slightest and eyed Dimitri up and down, licking her lips. "I really don't". She turned on her heels and tugged Dimitri by the hand leading him away.

Rose followed close by as they headed to the back exit.

"What is it with strigoi and alleys?" Lissa asked no one in particular in the van.

"They're dark, secluded and relatively hard to escape", Sydney answered thoughtfully.

The strigoi pushed Dimitri roughly back against the alley wall. "I like it rough".

"Good", Dimitri answered.

Under the lights that lit the alley, Dimitri suddenly saw her for what she really was. Her skin was paler than pale. Her eyes were all wrong - the irises were rimmed with red. When she pushed her body against his, she was cold and hard, like stone. In the club she did a good job of hiding her fangs, but out here, with no witnesses, she wasn't making much of an effort. Dimitri ignored it. He just had to seem convincing until Rose got there.

The strigoi kissed him. Painfully. She bit his lip and took a gulp. Dimitri ignored the pain. "You taste so good". She said and licked her lips. "Better than I've had in a long time". Then she turned thoughtful. "What are you?" When she was met with silence, she shrugged and her teeth went for Dimitri's jugular.

Before her fangs had a chance to pierce his skin, Dimitri spotted Rose sneaking up on her with her stake ready. Dimitri grabbed the tops of the strigoi's arms and held her in place.

This plan would have worked perfectly if the strigoi wasn't so old. Rose and her team didn't take into consideration that this strigoi might be stronger than they were used to.

As Dimitri held the strigoi, his eye flickered to Rose. The strigoi saw her attacker's reflection in Dimitri's eyes.

Taking both Dimitri and Rose by surprise, the strigoi pulled Dimitri to her and head butted him. Hard. His head ricocheted of the wall. At the same time she hooked her leg behind her and smacked Rose across the face with the heel.

Dimitri was in a complete daze. He idly wondering if he had a concussion. Rose recovered much more quickly and the strigoi figured her for the bigger threat. Rightly so.

The strigoi laughed again. "What are you? Sisterhood? I must say, they do send you girls out younger and younger." She and Rose circled each other.

Rose was trying to put herself between Dimitri and the strigoi. "It's admirable you're trying to protect him, dear", The strigoi continued her banter, "But that just means you're going to be the main course. He's so sweet that I'm saving him for desert".

That's when Rose threw the first blow. Or the attempt of a first blow. No matter how fast Rose moved, all she hit was air. This strigoi was much faster than any Rose had ever encounter. Rose knew she was toying with her. She was obviously stronger and would easily take Rose down. But like any strigoi, she too wanted to play with her food.

"Get out of here", Rose said with clenched teeth to Dimitri.

"He's not going anywhere", the strigoi growled.

Despite the massive blow to the head, Dimitri managed to recover and get his bearings.

The strigoi looked at Dimitri in surprise again, as he rose from the ground and steadied himself. "What are you? I'm going to relish the taste of a creature exquisite as you". The strigoi licked her lips again.

Rose's eyes darted to Dimitri. The strigoi didn't realize he was a dhampir. Maybe they had it wrong and he wasn't dhampir at all. Maybe he was something else entirely. They'd probably never know. Even if blood was drawn for the tests Alberta ordered on Dimitri, the results would have taken days and right now Rose did't wasn't sure if they had minutes.

The strigoi bared her teeth and charged for Rose and Dimitri. The pair stood firm and braced themselves for the impact that never came. Instead the van came blazing down the alley with the UV light projectors turn on full.

The agonizing scream that emanated from the strigoi sounded far from human. She was old enough and smart enough to know when to run away and live to fight another day.

Dimitri sagged in relief at her retreating form, but Rose held her position, eye trained on the strigoi until she was out of sight. She ushered Dimitri into he van and climbed in after him.

Once safely in the van and heading back to HQ, Rose turned on Dimitri. "What the fuck was that?!"

Dimitri looked at her at a loss for words.

"I told you to get out of there. What the hell were you thinking?!" Rose was yelling now.

Dimitri grabbed the first aid kit, took some gauze and dabbed them in alcohol, completely ignoring Rose's tone, her words and her glare. He leaned forward and gently cleaned the cut on Roes's cheek. Her glare was unflinching.

"Well?!" Rose questioned once Dimitri was done.

What he was doing was moot anyway, Lissa would heal her in seconds once they got back to HQ.

"I was thinking that there was no way I was going to leave you there".

Rose was furious. "I don't need help. Especially from an untrained human!"

That was below the belt. It was exceptionally bad since Sydney was the one with the quick thinking that saved their lives. And she was human. "Hey!" she protested from the driver's seat.

"Not now, Sage!" Rose snapped. "I knew it was a bad idea! This whole thing is ridiculous! You don't belong here! You almost got us all killed tonight".

"What are you talking about? How did I almost get us killed?"

"You're a distraction and you hesitated!" Rose was reaching and she knew it. But she didn't care. All her anger was targeted to Dimitri. "You could have staked her while she was sucking your lip!"

"Yeah, well, it took you long enough to get to that alley!" Ditmiri fired right back. "She could have drained me by the time you got there!".

"Guys! We're here", Lissa interrupted their spat as they drove into the underground car park.

They were silent as Sydney parked the van. And on the elevator ride up to HQ.

Alberta demanded a report from the team. Rose turned once again on Dimtiri. "You're not part of the team. Go to my room", she scolded as if he were a child.

"You just said I'm not part of the team, I don't take orders from you", he answered. "This conversation is not over!"

"It is for now", Alberta stopped their bickering. "Rose, my office. Now. Sydney, Lissa, Dimitri, you're dismissed".

Sydney and Lissa nodded. Before Rose followed Alberta back to her office, Lissa placed her hand on Rose's cheek. "Liss, don't".

A second later Lissa looked pleased with herself as the cut across Rose's cheek all but vanished, "There, all done".

Dimitri was stunned silent. He'd never seen anything like it. The cut on Rose's cheek healed as if it was never there.

After Rose left, Lissa tentatively placed her hand on Dimitri's and closed her eyes.

Dimitri felt warm all over, like he was cocooned in a blanket of light. His headache was gone as was the pain from the hit he took to the face and the back of his skull.

"Thank you", Dimitri whispered.

Lissa nodded. "Come on, I'll take you back to Rose's room".


	6. Chapter 6 - Battle of the Bulge

**_Chapter 6 - Battle of the Bulge_**

Rose got back to her room in a much better mood. Lissa's healing and her talk with Alberta calmed her significantly. She didn't know what to say to Dimitri. She was still mad but the uncontrollable rage had subsided.

Walking into her room, Rose was assaulted once again by the smell of Dimitri's aftershave that was still lingering. There was just something so manly about it. The sight that awaited her wasn't at good as the smell.

Dimitri was sitting on the bed with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands, his hair falling around his face. Next to his foot was the duffle bag with his belongings. All packed and zipped up, ready to go. Rose's mood plummeted.

"You're leaving", Rose accused.

Dimitri lifted his head to her. "I thought you wanted me gone", he said flatly.

"Have a nice life, Doctor Belikov", Rose practically sneered.

Dimitri stood abruptly and strode towards Rose. He was towering over her with all 6 foot 7 him. "I don't get it. You're mad at me if I stay and you're mad at me if I leave".

While Rose had a chance to cool off, Dimitri's anger only simmered and grew. He was almost always cool and collected. He hardly ever lost his temper anymore. But Rose Hathaway would certainly be the death of his inner calm.

Dimitri stood so close to Rose that she was practically looking up at him. Even furious he was gorgeous. Maybe it was because he was furious. In that moment everything that happened that night hit Rose all at once. "We could have been killed tonight. That ancient could have drained you. We could have both been turned. But you stayed", Rose swallowed hard, her eyes glossed over with unshed tears.

Dimitri hard expression softened immediately. He was prepared for a fight. He was not prepared for the raw emotion that was very evident on Rose's face. It was disarming.

"You stayed", Rose repeated. "You're so stupid!" her anger was flaring up again. "She almost had her fangs in your fucking neck and you stayed!", Rose was jabbing her finger in Dimitri's chest, furious over what could have happened. What almost happened. "What is the matter with you?!" With every word came another jab of her finger.

But Dimitri wasn't having it. He was sure Rose didn't realize that she was full on crying now. He grabbed her wrist and in the most unexpected reaction he could have had, Dimitri pulled her to his chest and hugged Rose fiercely.

"SSShhh", he soothed.

Dimitri wrapped both his arms around Rose and held her firmly until she stopped fighting him and just let go.

She cried for what they almost lost that night. She cried for what she'd already lost. She cried for what she was afraid she might lose. Rose cried like she never cried before, cradled by this beautiful caring man, who held her tight and stroked her hair. Dimitri's presence was like a balm to her.

When she was all cried out, Rose pulled back. Her eyes and nose were red and puffy from all the crying, yet Dimitri had never seen a sight so rare in it's beauty.

"I'm still mad at you", Rose huffed.

"So am I", Dimitri answered.

"I'm going to go wash my face. This conversation isn't over", Rose warned, throwing Dimitri's own words from earlier back in his face.

In the bathroom, Rose washed her face and changed out of her hunting dress. She donned on a pair of jeans she found and the camisole she usually slept in. Anything she wore for this conversation was better than that poor excuse for a dress. It was good for luring strigoi, among other things, and fighting in, but not so suitable for the type of altercation she was expecting with Dimitri.

When she returned, Rose was ready for round 2 as promised. She felt much better after the cold water hit her face. "I'm not used to people not following my orders" Rose stated. "When I told you to leave, I meant it as an order".

"I wasn't aware I was obligated to follow orders. After all, I'm not part of the team", now it was Dimitri's turn to use Rose's words against her. "And I told you I had no intention of leaving you behind".

"You are not a hero! You have no training! You're dead weight!". Despite the foot of difference in height, Rose was all up in Dimitri's face.

"Then train me", Dimitri growled. "You were impressed with me in the gym when we were sparring. You obviously think I have potential".

"Potential to die or get me killed!"

"You don't get it. I'm not going _anywhere_. My stuff is packed because I figured you wouldn't want me in your room anymore. But I'm here to stay. You could either train me yourself or I'll get someone else to do it. I'm sure Alberta will be more than willing to find someone more suitable to mentor me". Dimitri was raising his voice once more.

Rose scoffed. "I'm the best there is".

"That's not what I heard". Dimitri really hadn't heard anything, he was just goading her.

Rose shrieked and punched Dimitri hard in the arm. "That was a warning".

"That was a sucker punch", he clarified.

Dimitri made a move to grab Rose, but she ducked and he missed.

Rose aimed a kick at him. Unfortunately for her, Dimitri caught her leg and used her momentum to spin them and pin her to the wall.

He held her in place with his body while he trapped her leg around him with his arm to keep her from breaking free.

Rose's eyes widened. "How did you do that? You move like they do".

Dimitri knew exactly what Rose meant. His movements were as fast as strigois'.

As much as it pained Rose to admit it, she was having a difficult time getting out of Dimitri's hold on her. She may not have been trying her hardest. Her hands were gripping his shoulder in a meager attempt to push Dimitri back.

"You should have retreated when I told you to", Rose was still on that. "You _should_ go back to your normal life".

"I don't want to go back. And how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not leaving you behind".

Rose tried to wiggle out of Dimitri's hold. "Do you have a death wish, comrade? What did you think was going to happen in that alley?"

Dimitri pressed her harder into the wall, applying more of his weight. "Doesn't matter. Whatever the outcome, I was exactly where I was supposed to be, where I wanted to be. Right by your side".

In a second, all the fight went out of Rose and she was gaping at Dimitri wide eyed. All of a sudden she looked lost. She didn't know what to make of Dimitri's declaration.

"Rose?" Dimitri was getting worried at Rose's abrupt shift in mood. "Say something, Roza".

The way he said her name, rolling the R, stirred something in Rose. Something she had been trying to avoid since the moment she first laid eyes on Dimitri.

Instead of pushing him away, she pulled him in. One of her hands traveled up to Dimitri's hair. As she scratched his scalp with her nails and twined her fingers in his locks, she brought his lips to her roughly.

As soon as their lips contacted it was a clash of teeth and tongue. They couldn't get close enough. Rose used the leg that was already wrapped around Dimitri to pull him closer. Their bodies were touching everywhere - chest to chest, abs to abs, pelvis to pelvis.

Dimitri may have been the one holding Rose up but Rose was the one in control. She was the one who set the pace, pulling and tugging at Dimitri. She was the first one to thrust her hips. She couldn't have stopped the moan that escaped her lips even if she wanted to. The exquisite friction on her sex from Dimitri's already erect member made her want more.

Dimitri had always prided himself as a man who respected woman no matter what. But the things he wanted to do to her as Rose rubbed herself against him were unspeakable.

Rose grabbed the hem of Dimitri's shirt and pushed it up. They broke apart only so that Dimitri could get the shirt over his head before Rose ripped it off his body. But in order to do so he had to set Rose on her feet. Even the way she slid down his body we sexy. Especially once his shirt was gone and Rose was leaving opened mouthed kisses on his pecs and abs.

Dimitri was not so tactful as Rose when it came to her shirt being removed. When she refused to detach her lips from his body, his simply ripped her shirt down the middle.

Rose gasped and gazed at him, wide eyed and lustful. "That was so fucking hot!". Her breasts were heaving.

Dimitri smirked. He palmed her breasts and squeezed as he teased her nipple with the pad of his thumb over the delicate material of her bra.

Rose pushed her fingers though the belt loops of Dimitri's pants and pulled him closer. His hand went to her ass and he lifted her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"God, I want you Roza", Dimitri murmured against the skin of Rose's neck.

Rose hummed in content. "You have me, comrade".

Dimitri laid Rose on the bed, unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them down her legs. He was about to climb on top of her when Rose stopped him, placing her foot on his chest. "Not so fast", she smirked. "Pants. Off. Now".

Dimitri grinned like a school boy when he stripped and kick off his pants. He stood before Rose proudly, with his erection straining against his boxers. He let his eyes trail the length of her body, from her long legs to her hips, over the exposed tops of her voluptuous breasts, finally settling on her beautiful brown eyes.

Rose beckoned him to her with her forefinger. Dimitri lifted her foot to his lips and gently kissed her arch. He worked his way up her leg leaving kiss after kiss down her inner thigh. When he reached her panties he inhaled deeply. "You smell so good". His accent was as thick as his voice was husky.

Rose wished he would have lingered a little longer at the apex of her legs, but Dimitri had other plans. He crawled his way up her body, nipping and sucking every inch of her exposed skin along the way, until he reached her mouth again. He didn't miss the fact that Rose's bra was the kind that unhooked in the front. That made him harder, if possible.

Rose loved the feel of his weight on her. She took care to run her fingertips along the muscles of his chiseled form. She reached his pecs and pinched his nipple. Hard.

Dimitri hissed in pleasure and pain. The gesture only egged him on.

Unhooking Rose's bra was like opening a christmas present. He took one of her nipple in his mouth and rolled it with his tongue. Rose could have cum right then and there. Her moans were becoming embarrassingly loud. Her hand were notted in Dimitri's hair, not relenting till he bit a little too hard. "Ow!"

"Sorry", he chuckled and smiled widely.

Rose cupped his cheek. "You should do that more often. Smile", she ran the pad of her thumb on his lower lip.

That's when Rose decided she was done playing and flipped them over. But she didn't straddle him, like one would expect. Instead she stood up on the bed beside him, legs slightly parted, and said "Take off my panties".

"Didn't we already establish that I don't take orders well", Dimitri smirked but tugged her panties off anyway.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Rose taunted. Pun totally intended.

Dimitri answered in a playful groan.

"You're turn", Rose said in a demanding voice. Dimitri loved it.

The moment his boxers were gone Rose was in his lap, a knee on either side of him. She took him into her, slowly sliding down on his shaft. It was the most gentle either of them had been all night. When Dimitri was in to the hilt they both let out a moan of content. Rose felt full and complete. Dimitri felt like he finally found the missing piece he didn't even know was missing.

That gentleness didn't last long. Rose rode him long and hard. Each time she pumped him her movements got a little jerkier. Each time he thrust from below, she got a little tighter.

Dimitri ran his hand down her back. He caressed her sides. He held her tight. It was as if his hands were everywhere on her.

Their moans and grunts were getting louder and louder, but neither of them noticed.

Rose tightened and tightened. Her breath grew ragged and her eyes widened when she came around his cock for the first time. She slowed her movements until Dimitri laid her back down and picked up where she left off.

Rose didn't have much time to calm before her second orgasm began.

Dimitri was on his knees. He had both of Rose's ankles around his neck. Dimitri had a firm grip on her hips and he plowed into her. Her climax shook through her whole body. Rose was shuddering from the sheer force of it. With a few more deep thrust, Dimitri exploded into her with a wild animalistic growl. He stilled before parting Rose's legs and falling on top of her, still fully sheathed. They were a sweaty mess of tangled limbs and hair.

When their breathing evened, they positioned themselves a bit more comfortably. Rose laid with her back pressed to Dimitri's chest, using one of his arms as a pillow. Dimitri's other arm wrapped around Rose's waist, pulling her to him tightly. Even spooned and asleep, the fit together perfectly. The last thing Dimitri did before sleep completely took him was kiss Rose's hair.

They woke up hours later to the sound of perfuse banging on the door. "I didn't order wake up call!" Rose yelled at the door.

"Well you got one!" Adrian yelled through the door. "Your father's helicopter just radioed in a request to land on our helipad. You've got 20 minutes to get your ass out of bed and presentable when he walks through the doors at HQ level".

"Shit!" was all Rose could say.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hi guys!_

 _I hoped you like this first lemon._

 _Also I just realized writing is like cooking. You slave away for so long but the best part only lasts a short while. Making a decent meal takes forever and a half but it gets eaten in like 15 minutes max! It takes a lot longer to write than it does to read. At least for me._

 _Anyway, thank you for reading, following and favoriting. Bigger thank you to the reviewers! It means a lot._

 _You can thank MartianEskimo for the second update in a weeks time. Sweetie, this one is for you!_

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _K_


	7. Chapter 7 - Abe Mazur and His Guardian

_Hi guys!_

 _Thank you so much for supporting this story. The readers, the followers, the favoriters and especially the reviewers! You guys are awesome!_

 _I know I never committed to posting chapters according to any schedule. That's because I didn't want to let anyone down since I knew there would be times that I wouldn't be able to stick to it. But in my head I decided I'd post once a week. And last week that didn't happen and I'm a bit disappointed. Anyway, here's Chapter 7, which in my mind is a week late. It's longer than I thought it would be. I didn't split it in 2 cuz then one of the chaps would have been too short. The second half may seem kind of drawn out and it's a bit darker than my usual writing. (that was a warning…). Anyway read on!_

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _Happy reading,_

 _Kooki_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 7 - Abe Mazur and his Guardian_**

"Shit shit shit!" Rose repeated.

"Roza, calm down", Dimitri soothed. "Half an hour is plenty of time shower, dress and get to HQ. You'll even have time for a cup of coffee if you hurry. Come on," Dimitri hurled himself off the bed and reached his hand out for Rose to take, "I'll shower with you", he said with a wide grin.

Rose snorted. "Ha! I'm showering alone this morning, thank you very much! If you join me I'll _never_ be ready on time". Then she murmured something about probably never wanting to get out of the shower if he joined her. She completely disregarded Dimitri's outreached hand, knowing full well that even the slightest contact of their skin would send her heart rate rocketing. "I'll shower first and jet out of here to meet dear old dad". She hopped out of bed stark naked and sashayed her way towards the ensuite.

Dimitri swallowed hard, trying to stay focused on the issue at hand not how much he wanted to drag Rose back to bed. Or to any flat surface, really. "What about me?", he asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

Rose shrugged. "Whatever you want. Go back to sleep. Shower. Go get some coffee in the kitchen". She grabbed some clothes off her dresser and shut the door to the ensuite behind her, locking it so Dimitri wouldn't get any ideas.

Dimitri settled on plopping back in bed. At the very least he could pull her in for a kiss before she left, right?

Rose exited the bathroom, all dressed and ready to go, when she found Dimitri asleep in her bed. The sight caught her breath. He was still naked, didn't even bother to cover himself with the sheets. Rose bit her lip as her eyes traveled the length of his… body.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?" Dimitri asked smugly, eyes still closed.

"I thought you were asleep", Rose said like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Nah. Just resting my eyes". He sat up, took Rose's hand and gently edged her to him until she was in his lap. He kissed her slow and chaste with an arm around the waist and a fist full of her hair.

Rose moaned into his mouth. _I wish I didn't have to go meet Abe_ , she thought. "Shit!" Rose hissed, remembering that she had somewhere to be, "I don't have time for this!"

Dimitri nodded and release Rose. The smile on his face could have illuminated a small town, it was so bright.

"I'll see you later", she said, dazzled by his grin. The last thought she had before she mustered up the good sense to leave the room lest she was late to meet her father was that Dimitri is too yummy for his own good.

* * *

As soon as Rose left, Dimitri hopped in the shower. Why waste the day in bed when he could start training?, he figured. And if he just happened to wonder past HQ he could meet Rose's father.

Dimitri walked out to Rose's room naked as the day he was born. He expected to be alone and didn't bother taking any clothes with him to the ensuite. Instead he found a flabbergasted Adrian gaping at him. "Well I guess now I know why Rose had the biggest shit eating grin on her face this morning", Adrian hinted to Dimitri's manhood with just the tiniest bit of jealously. Adrian himself had nothing to complain about in that department. (And neither did Sydney). But still, he was grateful that he was the one to go fetch Dimitri and not his girlfriend, who initially volunteered to do so.

Dimitri wasn't fazed at all by Adrian's presence. He had no shame. Beside, Adrian was the one intruding. "Can I help you with something, Adrian?" The only reason Dimitri was even slightly civil was because Adrian had been the only one to tell him about the ridiculous prophecy so far. Not that he himself put any stock in it. At all.

"Nope", Adrian answered. "Alberta sent me to get you. You're needed at HQ. Now".

Dimitri nodded, still naked.

"I'll let you get dressed", Adrian excused himself.

Dimitri wondered what he could possibly be needed for, but dressed quickly and joined Adrian in the hall.

On their way to HQ, Adrian started what Dimitri hoped would be a short and light conversation. "Hey, remember the presentation Alberta gave you when you first arrived?"

Dimitri nodded.

"Did she go into the specifics of Moroi society or the royal lines? Did she tell you about Guardians?"

"Yes," Dimitri answered, remembering the elaborate slide of the royal genealogy and their monarchy. Alberta went over the moroi and dhampir society, centered around Royal Court. They are lead by a moroi monarch, who is elected from one of the 12 royal bloodlines. They have their own codes and laws, their own schooling, their own government. Dhampirs are primarily guardians to the moroi and nothing more. The sisterhood were an autonomous organization. The hand nothing to to with the monarchy or it's followers.

"Alright", Adrian said, "Well I hope you understand that for _them_ , "they come first" means something totally different", Dimitri could hear the anger underlying in Adrian's voice. "Not all moroi treat dhampirs as equals. The sisterhood is separate from that archaic society. I just thought you should know that".

Dimitri didn't really understand what the point of this speech was, but any information into what he considered his new life was a plus.

Adrian lead Dimitri to the conference room. Walking in, Dimitri spotted Rose and Alberta, along with Sydney and Lissa. The entire team. That was expected. But he was taken completely by surprise by the man sitting at the head of the table smiling at him fondly. A man who was Dimitri's benefactor in university. A man who had become a dear friend. A man named Abe Mazur.

"Abe?!" he exclaimed pleasantly surprised.

"Dimitri, my boy", Abe answered just as enthusiastic and rose to greet him.

The two hugged like old friends.

"How have you been, son?" Abe asked with an arm still around Dimitri's shoulder, despite Dimitri having half a foot on him.

"I've been well. Things have been strange as of late, but since you're here I'm sure you can understand that", Dimitri answered smiling. "How are you?"

Abe and Dimitri continued their small chit chat about Abe's business as the others looked on. Rose felt sick to her stomach. Her father was never that friendly or warm towards her. And he called Dimitri 'son'. Rose was praying to whoever, that he was just using that as a term of endearment and not being literal. Watching them interact, Rose felt more and more bile rise in the back of her throat. What happened next was almost worse.

Dimitri spotted Abe's bodyguard standing in the corner of the room. "Olena", Dimitri smiled. He rushed towards the middle aged woman and hugged her fiercely. Olena returned the hug, just as fierce.

The smile Dimitri gave the older dhampir had Rose's stomach in knots. She thought that smile was reserved for her alone. Rose watched as the older woman pulled out a small paper bag, from who knows where, and handed it to Dimitri.

"You didn't", Dimitri opened the bag and took a whiff. Immediately taking Olena back into a firm embrace. "Thank you", he whispered into her hair.

Rose was hit with a pang of jealousy. Not because Dimitri was hugging another woman, but because of the way this woman was hugging _him_. She may have stood a foot shorter than him, but she embraced him wholly and completely, like the most comforting blanket on the coldest day. Rose didn't think she'd ever been held like that.

Rose had met Olena on several occasions. She was kind and caring and deadly. But it was only now that Rose looked at her and realized she reminded her of someone.

When Dimitri finally released her he turned to Rose, "Olena makes the best black bread", he declared motioning to the contents of the bag.

"I take it you know each other then", Rose said sarcastically.

Dimitri nodded. "Abe and Olena saved my life. They found me as a baby, brought me to the orphanage, paid for my care. Abe facilitated the adoption when the Zeklos' took me in. He was my benefactor throughout university. Abe was the one that got me my internship here".

"You did that all by yourself, young man. I just handed in your application and paid for the flight", Abe corrected.

The entire back story seemed very weird to everyone. Rose wondered how Dimitri just accepted this concoction so easily, when she clearly found the whole thing suspicious as hell.

"Well I guess that settles that", Ablerta said under her breath. She cleared her throat, "Dimitri, could you excuse us?"

Dimitri looked closely at Abe, who interjected, "Please. I have much to discuss with my daughter". When Dimitri cocked his eyebrow in question Abe extended his hand to Rose who uncharacteristically obeyed and stepped towards her father, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulders.

Just when Dimitri thought he couldn't be more shocked, he finds out that his Roza is Abe Mazur's daughter. His jaw dropped.

"Dimka, shut your mouth", Olena chastised. "You'll catch flies".

Before Dimitri had a chance to protest, Olena chimed in again, "Would you be so kind as to show me to the kitchen?," she asks Dimitri. "Abe was in such a rush this morning that I haven't had a cup of coffee yet!"

"Of course, Olena". Dimitri knew he was being ushered away like a child in order to leave the grown ups to talk about grown up things, but he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to catch up with Olena.

As soon as they were out of the room Rose whirled on Abe, "Please, please, _please_ , tell me you are not that man's father!"

Still cool and collected as ever Abe answered, "No, I am not".

Rose took a deep cleansing breath and closed her eyes. The nausea subsided marginally. "Alright, you'd better start singing like a canary, old man. Who is Dimitri really? Why do you have such an interest in him? Why did you send him off with your guardian?, when clearly, he should be here when you tell us the truth about his origin."

"I can tell you everything about Dimitri. I've known Dimitri since the day he was born. But it's not my story to tell. Which is why I asked him to leave the room". Abe proceeded telling them how Dimitri had come into his life and why he was so special. "You see, little girl, the heroine of our story is Olena Belikova".

* * *

Olena suggested she and Dimitri take their coffee and black bread somewhere more private so they could catch up. Dimitri immediately thought of the roof where he'd seen Rose with her katana. Rose had mentioned no one but her ever went up there. Dimitri figured it was the most secluded place he knew within the compound. Other than Rose's room.

"Dimitri", Olena started as they leaned their elbows on railing, looking out on to the city, "There are some things I need to tell you". For a moment Olena got choked up. But she promised herself that she wouldn't cry until she got everything off her chest. "I'm assuming you already figured out that I'm a dhampir and Abe is a moroi. I'm his guardian".

Dimitri nodded, all this being pretty obvious after being at the sisterhood for a few days, learning about this vampire secret society.

Olena continued, "But before I was guardian, I was a slayer. And I was in love with my partner. He was a moroi. Randel. We were happy together. Until one night on a mission we were taken down. I thought Randal has been drained. And I was badly injured but I still managed to kill the strigoi who killed us. I laid down next to Randal and closed my eyes, ready to die. I didn't think I could live in a world where he didn't exist". Olena allowed herself one tear for the loss of the man she loved.

"I woke up sometime later, being carried. I could just barely make out the features of the person who's arms I was in. It was Randal. And for about 10 seconds I knew real joy. 10 seconds of bliss, thinking my love had not died. Until he looked down into my eyes". She blinked back the tears at the memory. "I was horrified. He was cold and pale. His eyes were rimmed with red. Randal had been turned".

Dimitri could see how difficult this was for Olena to talk about. "You don't have to tell me this, Olena", he took her hands in his to sooth her.

Olena shook her head. "I really do", she huffed and continued. "Randal took me to this cute little motel we'd used to go to, to get away from everyone. He knew they had black out curtains. And as long as a room was available the didn't care what time you checked in. Which is really good for slayers who keep odd hours". She cleared her throat. "I knew this was bad. I was hurt and didn't think I could kill him. I wasn't entirely sure what he would do to me. He just turned. He'd need blood. I won't go into details, but drinking my blood was not the worst thing he did to me". Her voice went cold. Colder than Dimitri had ever hold. "Not by a long shot".

Dimitri didn't need it spell out for him. Olena's silence was staggering.

She came back from where ever it was her mind went. "I don't know by what grace I managed to get myself out of there. After a few days there with him, Randal went out to get food while he left me tied to the bed. He wanted to keep me alive after all, he wasn't done with me. I pulled my arm out of it's restraint, reached the phone on the beside and called an old friend to come get me. When Alberta came for me Randal had returned. She and I slayed him together.

"Dimitri, that time in my life was very difficult for me. I don't like discussing it, but I had to tell you everything because I don't want you to judge me".

"What you went through was horrible and it was not your fault", Dimitri replied with conviction.

"No, but a lot of what happened after _is_ my fault. Just listen, please". When Dimitri nodded, Olena pushed forward. "I was recovering as well as can be expected after everything that had happen. Physically I was back to my old self in less than a fortnight. I thought I was over the worst of it, but then I found out I was pregnant".

Dimitri held back a gasp. He didn't interrupt Olena any more after that. He thought it best to let her get through her story, which was obviously important to her that he hear.

"I didn't want it. I didn't want anything that would ever remind me of Randal, even if it was a reminder of the good loving man he was before he turned into that monster. So I tried to get rid of it. Nothing worked. I tried everything and before I knew it, it was too late. I was too far along, no one would or could help me. So I ran away. I bummed from here to there making my way across Europe and while in Russia I'd learned of an old wives tail. That a male strigoi could impregnate a woman for the first 24 hours after he's turned. That's when I knew that it wasn't my Randel's child that I was carrying. It belonged to the monster.

"I wanted to kill myself, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wandered around Europe, yearning for death, when I came across Abe being attacked by strigoi. His guardian was already dead and Abe was backed into a corner, he wasn't well practiced using his fire magic in defense and what little he'd managed to use weakened him. I couldn't just leave him there with a strigoi.

"After I staked the strigoi Abe insisted on me staying with him. At first I thought it was because he was afraid of being alone. But I soon realized that he wanted to help me. I was already heavily pregnant and looked malnourished and neglected. Abe was the first person I'd spoken more than 2 words to in weeks. He very quickly became a friend. He helped me with what I was going through as best he could.

"When the baby was born, I couldn't even look at it. I wouldn't hold him. I wouldn't nurse him. I didn't even name him. Abe took care of the baby. Abe took care of everything. And I became Abe's guardian.

"For years, I didn't ask about the baby. I was too afraid he'd be a monster like his father. I knew Abe was still paying for his care and getting frequent updates on him. It wasn't until Abe had a child of his own seven years later, when I met baby Rosemarie, that I had a sudden urge to see my own baby boy again. So Abe showed me pictures of my son. He even had a few videos. My son was strong and smart and beautiful. He was kind hearted and always wanted to help everyone around him. I finally got to know my son but it was only from afar. My son had been told I died giving birth. I decided that was for the best. The boy deserved better than an absentee mother. And he'd been adopted by a loving family. He was better off. Abe continued to watch over my son as he got older. They're still in touch to this day. His birthday is tomorrow. He'll be 25 years old".

By the time Olena was nearing the end her story, Dimitri was shaking.

"Dimitri, my name is Olena Belikova. I'm your mother and your father was a strigoi".

Dimitri took a step back. He so desperately wanted to know where he came from, but this story made him realize ignorance is bliss. He'd always had a suspicion that his biological mother didn't die giving birth, that that was just a story every orphan was told. When he was a kid, like most children who were adopted, he'd pretend his birth parents were royalty from a far away land who would one day come looking for him, or they were heroes on a mission and that's why they couldn't be with him. Dimitri never wanted to admit that his parents just didn't want him. The thought hurt too much. Even now as a grown man he couldn't stand that fact that Olena didn't want him. Worst still was the story of his conception and the fact that he'd been fathered by strigoi. The story Adrian told him, the prophecy he dubbed breathtaking bullshit, popped into his mind for a fraction of a second.

Dimitri took another step back. He felt like he couldn't breathe. His lungs wouldn't inhale, his chest wouldn't expand. He looked Olena in the eyes. He could only assume that the heartbreak in her eyes only mirrored his own. But he didn't care. She'd been through a terrible ordeal but that didn't give her the right to abandon her own son.

"I'm sorry Dimitri. I wanted to tell you so many times", Olena reached out her hand to Dimitri, but Dimitri didn't want anything to to with her in that moment. He took another step back. And another and another till he turned around and flat out ran to the door of the roof. He ran down the stairs. He didn't know where to go, he just knew he needed to get away. He kept running down floor after floor, spiraling downward till he reached the basement. Lucky for him, mid day classes were in session upstairs and the gym was deserted.

He walked up to a punching bag in the corner of the room and started pummeling it with a blind rage he'd never known before. He punched the bag over and over. He exerted himself till his knuckles were bloody. Then he punched some more.

Dimitri finally fell to his knees. He felt destroyed. He'd had a mother. His whole life, he had a mother who didn't want anything to do with him. And it broke him.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _I know it hurts to end a chapter this way, but next up, we get into the prophecy! (hope that makes up for it)_

 _Review please!_


	8. Chapter 8 - Breathtaking Bullshit

_A/N:_

 _Hi guys!_

 _So many reviews from last chapter! Thank you so much! I'm sorry if there's anyone I missed and didn't respond to._

 _Hope you enjoy this one too!_

 _K_

 _PS - don't forget to review!_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 8 - Breathtaking Bullshit_**

Abe told Rose and her team everything about Dimitri. Because of that stupid prophecy, they needed to know everything where Dimitri was concerned. When Abe had finished Rose was heart broken. She's always thought of Olena as her father's kind hearted caring guardian. She never thought about any experiences she may have had, what her life was like before she became a guardian. She felt horrible for everything Olena had to endure, she was sad about the way Dimitri had to grow up. Rose was disappointed with Olena for not being a mother to Dimitri but at the same time she was in awe of this strong woman who overcame so much. Rose had a feeling Dimitri probably didn't see it that way. Her heart went out to him.

Rose waited patiently at HQ for Olena and Dimitri to return. She was disheartened when Olena came back on her own.

"Where is he?" Rose asked, trying not to be accusing.

Olena held back tears. She knew there was a very good possibility that Dimitri wouldn't take the truth well. She wished she could take away the pain she caused him. She hoped one day Dimitri would be able to forgive her and welcome her into his life. But Olena wouldn't be holding her breath. In her own mind Olena was getting exactly what she deserved. But it still hurt.

Olena could barely look Rose in the eyes. "I don't know. He just ran away from me. He doesn't want anything to do with me and I don't blame him". She went to find Abe. Olena sought out this comfort even if she didn't believe for a second that she was worthy of it.

Rose needed to find Dimitri. The sooner the better. She ran to her room, swinging by the kitchen on her way. Dimitri wasn't there, but his bag was there, so he hadn't left. _Thank Vlad_ , she thought.

Rose ran up to the roof. She had a feeling he might go there if he wanted to be alone. She found 2 empty coffee mugs on the ledge of the roof. Rose assumed that they were Dimitri's and Olena's.

She figured she may as well try a top to bottom sweep of the building. She's checked HQ again as well as her room and the kitchen, just in case. She checked the games room, armory, the class rooms floor, till she finally reached the gym. If Dimitri wasn't there, Rose had a plan B where she enlisted the help of Christian, Sydney and Adrian to start going over security footage to track him down.

But Rose didn't need to look any further. The way she found Dimitri devastated her. He had his back to the door. He was on his knees, his head in his hands. His whole body was shaking. Dimitri was so absorbed that he didn't even hear her approaching. Rose came around and stood before him. His knuckles were caked with dry blood, his hair was matted to his face with sweat and his shirt was completely soaked through.

When Dimitri finally noticed her he weakly lifted his gaze to hers. His eyes were glossy with unshed tears. Rose was sure at least some of the wetness on his cheeks were tears he _had_ shed.

"Roza?"

Rose leaned down, took his hand gently and helped him rise to his feet. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up". She placed his arm around her shoulder and looped her arm around his waist, guiding him through the gym.

Rose hoped that they wouldn't run into anyone on their way to her room. She was determined to get him cleaned up and feeling better. If need be, she'd text Lissa to come heal Dimitri's hands.

They made it back to Rose's room within minutes. Thankfully, the halls were empty. Rose lead Dimitri to her ensuite. She turned on the shower and let the water warm. She peeled the shirt off of an unresponsive Dimitri. She helped him out of his shoes and pants.

Dimitri stood before Rose naked, a broken man. Rose quickly undressed and took Dimitri by the hand into the hot spray of the shower. She gently washed the blood from his knuckles in order to see how bad the damage was.

"It's not serious", She told Dimitri. "Just a few cuts and scrapes".

Dimitri nodded. It was the first response Rose had been able to get out of him since they left the gym. She lathered soap in her hand and rubbed it into Dimitri's tense muscles. When she was done, Rose sat Dimitri on her built in shower seat which she only used when saving her legs. She meticulously shampooed his hair, then rinsed. When he was clean Rose stood him back under the shower head, as if the rush of the water would somehow wash away anything bad in his life. She leaned against him and held him tight.

"Dimitri, say something" Rose whispered. "Please. You're scaring me".

Dimitri wrapped his arms around Rose and held her tight. He had never been so grateful for the existence of another human being in his life.

"Thank you, Roza".

Rose looked up at him. "For what?"

"Just… for being here. For taking care of me".

Rose smiled and returned to resting her head on his chest. They stood there until Rose's stomach growled.

Dimitri laughed, a big booming hearty laugh and Rose knew he'd be okay. They could talk about Olena and Abe later, for now they both needed a big lunch which Rose dutifully decided they should eat at her favorite burger joint in the city.

* * *

"Thank Vlad this place is open 24/7", Rose's mouth was full of her second burger. She'd already downed one with a serving of fries and a vanilla milkshake.

Dimitri passed on the fries, but was already on his third serving of double cheese burger packed with bacony goodness.

They were seating side by side in a corner booth of a all night diner. The walls were plastered with comics and all the employees' name tags read some super hero name or another.

When they were done wolfing down the enormous amount of food they ordered, Rose asked, "Do you want to talk about?"

Dimitri shook his head. "I'm assuming that Abe told you".

Rose nodded.

"So what else is there to say?", he asked.

Rose was staring intently at Dimitri.

"What?"

Rose shrugged. "You look like her. You have her eyes".

"I don't want to talk about this, Rose".

Rose nodded. She didn't have anything to say that would bring him solace. "Whatever. I'm just relieved you're not my brother", she chuckled.

"Why would you even think that?" Dimitri asked with mirth.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, just the way Abe was with you. The two of you, together. He is never like that with me. He was all warm and fuzzy with you. He called you son". Rose shuddered at the memory of how she'd been terrified of the possibility that she had sex with her brother. "But I guess that's understandable. He was _there_ with you when you were a baby. Not so much with me, though".

Dimitri could clearly hear the bitterness in her voice. "I can assure you, I am not your brother". The same shudder that went through Rose at the thought they might have been siblings, went through Dimitri now. It was an emenrse felling of… ick.

Rose laughed at Dimitri's expression and when he joined in, their laughter was uncontrollable to the point of tears.

When their laughter died down, Rose looked around her to make sure there weren't any other diners near them, "There are some things you should know, Dimitri".

Dimitri could only assume what Rose was referring to. And that soon enough they'd need to be getting back to the sisterhood. But Dimitri wasn't ready for that yet. "Don't".

"Don't what?"

"Don't tell me. I don't want to know any more. I've been talked at enough the past couple of days and I'm done".

"You're done?"

"Yes".

"Done with what? Done with Abe and Olena? Done with the sisterhood? Done with me?" Rose blurted out her questions. She wasn't sure how her voice didn't crack when she asked if he was done with her.

If felt like an eternity before Dimitri answered. "All my life, I've done what other people wanted me to do. I've been what other people wanted me to be". Dimitri let out a sigh. "At the orphanage, you always do what you're told because if you're well behaved then maybe a nice family will adopt you. Then when I was with the Zeklos's I still did everything I was told, too afraid to step out of line or anger them and they'd abandon me as well. By the time I was 16, Mom and Dad had already convinced me I wanted to be a doctor, just like they were. And now I'm here and people still expect me to be what _they_ want me to be. And for the first time in my life, I don't want to comply. I want to do the right thing for me. And right now, I don't know what that is".

"You already knew what I was going to tell you", Rose stated. When Dimitri stared at her blankly she got annoyed. "You already knew about the prophecy?!" She hissed.

He nodded. "Adrian told me. Called it breathtaking bullshit. He told me _before_ I made the decision to stay".

"You regret staying", Rose was panicked. "You regret not going back to your normal little life", she was also a bit annoyed.

"No. I don't", he replied vehemently. "I promise you, I have no regrets", Dimitri laced his finger through Rose's, "I don't regret anything that's happened or anything I've done since I met you, Roza". He squeezed her hand lightly. "Right now, the only thing I know with any degree of certainty, is that I want you in my life. I feel peace when I'm with you". Dimitri stared deep into her eyes and said, "When I'm with you, I'm free".

Rose nodded, stunned silent.

Dimitri was rubbing circles in the back of he hand with his thumb. "You wanted me to stay away from the sisterhood. You didn't even want to explore that possibility that I might be… That the prophecy might be about me".

"That stupid prophecy is going to get you killed, Dimitri", Rose said barely above a whisper. And it wasn't so other people wouldn't hear, it was because she didn't want to face the possibility that something could very well happen to him.

"The point is you wanted me to leave for _me_. Even if it meant I wouldn't know you. I don't know if anyone's ever done anything that selfless for me". Dimitri felt as if he could no longer trust anything in his past. Had Abe orchestrated his adoption? Was Abe the reason the Zeklos family took him in? Was he only interested in Dimitri in the first place because of the prophecy? Everything he'd ever experienced in his life may have been because of that damn prophecy. Everything, except Rose.

"What did Adrian tell you? About the prophecy?" Rose asked, while praying that Adrian didn't divulge too much. "Maybe the prophecy wasn't about you", she said, hopeful.

Dimitri chuckled without humor. "He said that one day, a dhampir boy would be born of a slayer mother and a strigoi father. The boy would have his father's strength and speed. But he'd have his mother's heart".

"What else did he say?"

"The boy is destined to become the man who would restore the balance to good and vanquish the strigoi. Blah Blah blah. That's a direct quote from Adrian, by the way". Dimitri rolled his eyes.

Rose knew there was more. "Keep going".

"Adrian very ominously said that salvation would come at a great cost. It is said that this prophesied man's children will lead the moroi and dhampir into a new golden age".

Rose had a far away look in her eyes.

"Anything else?"

"He may have mentioned that every coin has 2 side. And that _that_ was the fate of the dhampir if he grew up as a man, not as a monster. 'For if he is raised to do evil, the evil will be unlike any other the world has ever known'". Dimitri quoted.

"Adrian didn't hold back at all".

Dimitri raised his brow, "Does he ever?"

"I guess not".

"This is insane. Isn't it?" Dimitri wondered out loud. "Am I the only one who thinks that?"

"Well, Adrian has always called it bullshit. I've heard the prophecy being called nonsense, hogwash, poppycock." Rose counted off on her fingers, "A fairytale, a myth, flim flam, baloney, hokum. But I have to say my favorite is malarkey. No one has ever put any stock in it, but still every time a dhampir boy is born everyone in the moroi world looks at him closely". Rose paused, then said, "Till now no one thought it was possible for a strigoi to father a child". She took a deep breath. "I still don't believe it's true. The prophecy".

"If you never bought into it, why are you so worried about me?", Dimitri asked.

"The prophecy doesn't have to be real for it to be dangerous. Like you said, people have expectations. Last time there was a candidate, he thought he was the king of the world, rushed into a strigoi nest. He was highly trained and they ripped him limb from limb in minutes", Rose shuddered.

"See the thing is", Rose continued "You could just be a regular, untrained dhampir, or you could be something extraordinary. No one know what traits you inherited. We don't what you're capable of. Do you even know your own limits? How fast your reflexes are? How far you can run before you're out of breath? What's the maximum weight you an bench press? That's not even taking into account your other sense."

Now Rose was being logical, thinking of what Dimitri's limits were considering the prophecy stated he pretty much had strigoi strength and speed. She didn't want to dwell on the part of the prophecy that spoke of the children, since she knew that meant Dimitri would eventually end up with someone else.

But Dimitri was focused on something else entirely. "I'm supposed to have my mother's heart. Does that mean that I'll abandon my own child as well?" Just saying it hurt him.

"Dimitri, Olena didn't abandon you completely. I'm sure if Abe wasn't there, she'd have gotten her shit together and raised you right".

Dimitri scoffed. "Or she would have killed me".

Rose gasped. "You don't really believe that, do you?", she asked shocked.

"I don't know. Why not?" Dimitri questioned. "She never wanted me. Tried to get rid of me before I was born. Who's to say she wouldn't have tried again after I was born?"

"If that's really what she wanted, I doubt Abe would have been able to stop her".

For a while they sat in silence, still holding hands. Rose's phone beeped.

"It's a text from Lissa. Abe and Olena are going to his apartment in the city. They'll return to HQ tomorrow", Rose let that sink. "Do you want to go back?"

Dimitri shook his head.

"You know what you need?" Rose was desperate to try and lift Dimitri's spirits.

"What?"

"Ice cream", Rose answered. "And sex".

Dimitri looked at Rose scandalized.

"And I know just where we can get ice-cream".

He chuckled.

They paid their bill and set off to a little ice cream parlor not too far from where they ate lunch. It was hours before sun up and the place was owned by moroi so it was still open. The downside - the portions were moroi size, meaning small. And they were expensive. But it was the best gelato in the state so it was totally worth it, Rose thought.

On the way, they bumped shoulders. The backs of their hands brushed. Rose playfully shoved Dimitri. He made a move to shover her back but at the last second pulled her to him. They walked the rest of the way hand in hand.

Rose had never done that before. She never had anyone to hold hands with. She felt her heart expand as Dimitri took her hand in his and twined their fingers. What got her the most was when he brought their hands to his lips and kissed her fingers.

When they arrived at the ice cream parlor, it was empty. That was suspicious. There were always 2 clerks behind the counter. Always.

Rose signaled for Dimitri to stay silent, pulled out 2 stakes and handed him one. Not that he knew how to use it, really. Dimitri moved behind the counter and then he heard a noise coming from the back. A noise he could tell Rose didn't hear.

He darted through the double doors that lead to the back and continued straight through to the back alley. Rose followed swiftly, not liking Dimitri's impulsive charge one bit. She would've stopped him but she couldn't risk them being detected either.

They were in the alley without a sound, where they spotted a strigoi drinking from who they could only assume was one of the clerks from the ice cream parlor.

Rose finally got a hand on Dimitri and pulled him back silently commanding the lead.

Rose attacked the strigoi from behind but she heard Rose coming and turned. The moroi she was feeding on slumped to the ground.

"You again?" Rose exclaimed as she threw a jab at the ancient they encountered the other night when she and the team went out hunting and ended up using Dimitri as bait. The ancient that could have easily killed her and Dimitri.

"A nice dhampir for desert. And look you brought your yummy boyfriend again". The strigoi said, between trading blows. "This is going to be fun".

If Rose was nervous or fearful she didn't show it. Not even as she took several hits to the face and the torso. In the meantime Dimitri checked on the moroi who crumpled to the ground. He still had a pulse. But the other moroi Dimitri spotted on the ground was not so lucky. Dimitri closed the moroi's eyes with the pad of his thumb and forefinger. He dragged the unconscious moroi back inside before joining Rose again. And not a moment too soon.

The strigoi had Rose pinned to the wall by her neck, feet dangling as they were almost 6 inches off the ground. Her stake was no where to be seen. Dimitri remembered the night he first met Rose. She was in much the same position then. Sydney had told him that night that all he had to do was sneak up on the strigoi from behind and put the pointy end of the stake through its heart. This time, Dimitri didn't hesitate. He moved soundlessly till he was right behind the ancient.

Rose was turning blue from lack of oxygen while she was clawing and kicking and punching at the strigoi. As Rose was struggling, the strigoi suddenly stilled and her eyes opened wide. "How", she murmured and fell to the ground, stake still lodged in her back.

Dimitri caught Rose before she slid to the ground. Rose coughed and sputtered for air.

"Are you alright, Roza?" Dimitri was steadying Rose, pushing back her hair to get a better look at her injuries.

Rose nodded, still coughing, griping Dimitri's arms as she regained her balance.

They heard clapping from the other side of the alley and immediately spun towards the source. The figure in the shadows moved closer yet still kept a safe distance. Even in the darkness they could tell she was clearly a she and a strigoi. "I should thank you for killing her", she pointed at the ancient on the ground. "You saved me the trouble". She was short and slight yet feminine. Her short hair was curly and fiery. As it blew in the breeze it looked like she was surrounded by flames.

The closer she got and the more she spoke, the more terror seized Rose. Her breathing became erratic and her grip on Dimitri tightened. Rose tried in vain to push Dimitri behind her, but he was trying to do the same with her.

The strigoi stopped. "AAWWW! The two of you make such a cute couple".

"What the fuck do you want?!" Rose yelled.

The strigoi tsked. "Is that any way to talk to your mother?"


	9. Chapter 9 - Mommy Dearest

_A/N:_

 _Hi guys,_

 _Not gonna make excuses. Here's the chapter. I hope you like it, even if it's shorter than usual._

 _Thank you so very much for the favorites, follows and especially the reviews! I always make a point of answering all the reviewers and last chapter was no different. I can't reply to guest reviewers, that doesn't mean they are any less touching or important to me!_

 _So I'm kind of on the fence about this chapter... So please (!) review because I really need to know if was any good..._

 _Fun reading!_

 _K_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 9 - Mommy Dearest_**

 _The strigoi tsked. "Is that any way to talk to your mother?"_

Dimitri's blood suddenly ran cold. He remembered Rose saying that her mother had left on a mission one night and never came back. He knew a dhampir could be turned into a strigoi. And yet he never imagined that anything as horrific as this would happen.

"You are not my mother!" Rose yelled at the strigoi. "You're a soulless monster walking around in my mother's corpse".

Jeanine held her hand to her mouth and fake gasped before laughing loudly. "Who's your friend?", she gestured to Dimitri and licked her fangs.

"No one", Rose answered vehemently. "Just some random human who got luck with my stake".

"You never were a good liar, Rosemarie". Jeanine said, still keeping a safe distance. She wasn't sure he was 'just human' nut he definitely was not random. "No matter, he's of no importance. I heard you're father's in town". She smirked, "Along with that little blood whore of his".

"You stay away from him", Rose warned. "And Olena".

Rose only confirmed for Dimitri that the strigoi was in fact referring to Olena as the blood whore. He didn't entirely understand what that meant, but it sure as shit wasn't a compliment. Throughout their interaction so far, Dimitri was completely silent. He didn't want to aggravate the situation more than it already was. He didn't want to put Rose in more danger.

But when Jeanine took another step towards them, Dimitri tried to push Rose behind him again.

"Just a random human, huh?" Jeanine asked rhetorically.

That's when Dimitri spoke up, "We've already slain one of you tonight. You should leave before we do the same to you as well".

Jeanine laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt her", Jeanine gestured towards her daughter. "I just dropped by to say hello", she smiled wickedly. "I'll be seeing you around, darling". She blew Rose a kiss and sauntered off back the way she came.

Rose relaxed immediately and released the breath she was holding.

"Are you alright?" Dimitri asked gently.

"I'm fine", Rose answered coldly. "I have to call Sydney and my father".

"Shouldn't we retreat?" Dimitri asked surprised. "She might come back".

"If she wanted to attack me, she would have done it already. Something tells me she has other plans for me".

Rose staggered back to the back room of the ice-cream parlor and made her calls while Dimitri check on the unconscious moroi who was starting to come to.

"Sydney's on her way here for clean up", Rose declared. "Abe and Olena are staying put for now, he claims his place has enough wards, guardians and weapons to guard a small state".

Dimitri helped the moroi and informed him that he needed a blood transfusion and possibly a head c.t. The moroi nodded meekly, still injured and grieving his brother who laid drained in the back alley.

Dimitri desperately wanted to comfort Rose, who was pacing profusely while waiting for reinforcements. He wanted to check her injuries. He wished it had been him who had gotten hurt.

"You gotta stop staring at me like that, comrade", Rose said without breaking her stride. "It's freaking me out".

"Like what?"

"Like you're waiting for me to fall apart", Rose answered, still pacing.

"You just found out without a doubt what happened to your mother. It's alright to fall apart". Dimitri needed her to stop pacing and look him in the eye. If only for a second.

But Rose refused to meet Dimitri's expectant gaze. She knew if she stopped even for a second she'd lose it.

Dimitri decided to just let Rose have her space, for now.

Sydney arrived on the scene with a specialty moroi ambulance to take the injured to get the medical treatment which Dimitri signed off on. Luckily, or unluckily, she didn't have to notify next of kin regarding the deceased moroi in the alley. His next of kin witnessed the whole thing and was now on his way to the hospital.

Once the moroi were taken care of, Sydney stepped into the alley accompanied by Rose and Dimitri. Dimitri was fascinated as Sydney poured the contents of a small vile on the dead strigoi. He was shocked as the body disintegrated into a pile of ash.

Dimitri swallowed. "How did you do that?"

Sydney smiled. "An old alchemists trick".

"Why hasn't this been weaponized to use agains strigoi?" He questioned.

"We've been trying that for years. This particular compound", Syd held up the vile, "only works on expired strigoi, not ones that are still animated".

"Animated?" Dimitri had never heard strigoi described that way.

"Well, they have no pulse and don't need to breathe. They're not really living. Yet they walk and talk and feed, so they're not completely dead", Sydney explained.

It made sense, but Dimitri got the distinct impression generally strigoi weren't described as 'animated'. Maybe more an imitation of life…

* * *

Rose was silent as the grave when Syd sent the moroi to the hospital. She was silent when Syd disposed of the strigoi and explained the process to Dimitri. She was silent when Dimitri briefed Sydney on what occurred, even though Rose already given the run through on the phone earlier. She was silent the entire way back to the sisterhood.

Rose was so silent that Dimitri was beginning to worry. Maybe space wasn't what she needed.

As soon as they were in HQ, Lissa charge Rose and wrapped the dhampir in her skinny pale arms. Even cocooned by her best friend, Rose was unresponsive. Lissa tried a little bit of spirit, but that didn't seem to work. It may have been more than a little, though, since it healed the bruises on Rose's face.

"How long has she been like this?" Lissa looked between Dimitri and Sydney.

"Almost an hour", Dimitri answered.

Lissa nodded as if accepting the answer. She took a step back from Rose and slapped her across the face as hard as she could. It may have been all Lissa's might, but she was still just a moroi and Rose was a dhampir.

"What the fuck was that, Lissa?!" Dimitri immediately stepped in between Rose and Lissa. He didn't push Lissa away, but she was forced to take a step back. Dimitri didn't see Rose's eye's widen suddenly as everything hit her all at once. In that nanosecond when Rose was getting back to reality and her world came crashing down on her, she didn't trust her voice not break.

Dimitri felt a small hand grasped his arm. He turned to Rose who was shaking her head slightly. She looked up at him with big tear filled eyes. At least Lissa's slap did some good. Rose didn't look distant anymore. The void look in her eyes was gone. That may not have been a good thing though. All that was left was grief.

It was as though Rose and Dimitri were having a silent conversation. Dimitri just knew he needed to get Rose out of there. She was about to implode and he was sure she didn't want an audience for that. Even if that audience was her sisters.

"Rose needs to lay down. I'm taking her to her room". Dimitri declared with nothing but authority in his voice.

Without waiting for protest, Dimitri lead Rose out of HQ by the shoulders. She didn't object.

In Rose's room, Dimitri sat her on the bed and knelt before her. The void look was coming back. "Rose? Roza?"

Rose started trembling. She was staring at her own hands clasped in front of her. She tightened her grip more and more, till her nails broke her skin. By this point she was convulsing. Her face reddened. Dimitri could hear her gritting her teeth.

Dimitri was at his wits end. He'd never seen a reaction to grief that manifested like this. He knew it was so much more than grief, though. It was fury. It was a blind rage that Rose had no control over.

"Hit me", Dimitri said it as if a light bulb switched on above his head.

"What?!" Rose hissed.

"Hit. Me".

"You couldn't handle me", Rose sneered.

"You'd be surprised what I can handle". Dimitri smirked, trying to get Rose to engage him. "Come on, hit me with your best shot".

That's when Rose snapped. She pushed Dimitri back and rose to her feet. Dimitri tumbled backwards and used the momentum of Rose's push to complete his back roll into a standing position.

Rose could tell right away that Dimitri's stance wasn't at all defensive. She shoved his left shoulder. She shoved his right shoulder. Then she shoved him back by both shoulders. Dimitri's back his the wall.

"Stop it!", Roa yelled. "You are not a practice dummy! Fight back!"

"I won't. You need to control this rage. If I have to be a punching bag for you to learn, so be it. But I know you don't really want to hurt me".

Rose punched him in the gut.

Dimitri hunched over. "Okay, that hurt. But let's face it. You can do so much damage to me if you want to".

"You're right. I can".

Rose grabbed Dimitri by the arm and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed hard on his back. _Thank god for the carpet,_ he thought. As soon as his back hit the carpet, Rose straddled him. She slapped him.

"Fight me!" Rose yelled.

"No".

Rose slapped him again, harder this time. "Fight me!"

Dimitri shook his head.

Rose's fisted where clenched, ready to strike.

"AAAhhhhh!" It was a battle cry before Rose let her fist fly.

Dimitri didn't close his eyes for a second. Not even when Rose's fist his the floor beside his head with a loud thud.

"God damn you, Dimitri", Rose said, just about a whisper.

"God damned me a long time ago, Roza".

Rose was breathing hard. Dimitri slowly sat up. He cupped her face and ran his thumb across her cheek. She leaned into his touch. "You're going to be okay", Dimitri announced.

Tears streaked Rose's face.

"You're going to be okay", he repeated. "You hear me?"

Rose nodded still weeping softly. And Dimitri said it again and again as he cradled her in his arms and rocked her back and forth.

They sat there like that, for an immeasurable amount of time before Rose pulled back and met Dimitri's eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"You need to get the anger out of your system or learn to control it and not let it control you. You could have beaten me to a pulp and had the rage out of your system. But you didn't. You grabbed it by the balls and humped it into submission".

Rose burst out laughing. "You did NOT just say that!"

That laugh was like music to Dimitri's ears. For a fraction he wasn't sure he'd ever hear it again. He smiled proudly at being the cause of her laughter. "I heard it in a movie once".

Rose grinned devilishly. "You know comrade, I can think of about 10 different ways you could have helped me burn off this fury. And you would have gotten hurt only in some of them". She bit her lip. "But you would have been naked in all of them".

Dimitri groaned and with lightning fast moves flipped them over and ravished Rose neck and jaw line with open mouthed kisses.

* * *

Hours later, as they laid in bed, Rose peppered Dimitri's arm with butterfly kisses. She trailed her mouth over his shoulder and back down his chest till her lips reached the dip between his pecs, where they lingered.

Dimitri stroked Rose's hair as her head lay on his chest, blissed out of his mind (much the same as Rose was). His life was going to shit. He was giving up practicing medicine to practice staking mythical creatures. He just found out his supposedly dead mother gave him away because she couldn't stomach the sight of him and a man who he considered a true friend had lied to him his entire life. The woman in his arms who he'd come to cherish, was in constant mortal danger. Yet despite _all_ that, he was happy. He finally knew what true joy felt like. And it was all because of Rose. Kind hearted, brave, beautiful Rose. His Roza.

"She still looks the same", Rose suddenly murmured. "I mean, I know she's strigoi and she doesn't age. But in that dark alley, I could almost pretend that her eyes weren't rimmed with red and her skin wasn't deathly pale. I could almost pretend she was my mother".

Dimitri felt the wetness slowly pool on his chest. He kissed the top of Rose's head.

"We look nothing a like. My dad says the only thing I got from her is my moxie", Rose chuckled. "He actually said that. Moxie".

"I'm not sure that's all you got", Dimitri replied. "I heard she was the best slayer of her time. And I've seen you fight. I doubt you got that from Abe".

"That's only because you've never seen him in a bar fight", Rose laughed. "My mom always used to tell me she had to save Abe from himself in a pub in Ireland. That's how they met".

Dimitri hummed.

"She really was the best slayer. But she still found time to be an amazing mom. When I was little, she'd read to me or sing to me almost every night before I went to bed", Rose took a calming breath. "Mom started training me at an early age. She'd used to say, 'Strigoi don't care how old you are'. She was the best". The rest of the sentence hung painfully on Rose's tongue. _And now I'm the best. She made me the best._

Dimitri continued stroking Rose's hair till her breathing became evened out and she feel asleep.

"Sleep well, milaya", Dimitri murmured before kissing the top of Rose's head and dozing off himself.

* * *

 _Don't forget to review!_


	10. Chapter 10 - Testing and Training

_A/N:_

 _Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It has been 3 weeks since my last update…_

 _Anyway, I tried to make up for the lack of lemony goodness in previous chapter. I know, it was a missed opportunity. What can I say, I wasn't inspired to write smut… I hope this chapter fixed that a little, even though the lemon is super short. Also, I did go a little longer on this chapter…Especially since it has again a while since my last update._

 _If you're still with me, leave a review. Tell me if you like the chapter._

 _XOXO_

 _Gossip Girl._

 _oooops, I mean,_

 _XOXO_

 _K_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 10 - Testing and Training _**

Rose hissed as she woke up. She was wrapped around Dimitri and loving every minute of it. Well, she wasn't so fond of the rug burns on her ass or her knees. But she sure did have a wonderful time getting them.

 _Dimitri was kissing her neck roughly. His teeth grazed her skin deliciously. Rose felt as if he had ignited every cell in her body. She hissed and moaned with every ministration of his mouth on her body._

 _She tugged at his clothes, wanting any layer of fabric that separated them gone. Dimitri obliged enthusiastically, discarding his shirt quickly. She didn't pause before she bit his nipple, extracting a hiss of pleasure from him._

 _They didn't bother moving to the bed. Rose wanted him right then and there, where they were, on the floor. Or ,o,re accurately, on the carpet._

 _Rose was sure the speed with which Dimitri removed her clothes was far more than dhampir-speed. And that only turned her on more. She wanted him wholly and completely, without holding back._

 _In the throes of passion Rose wondered if Dimitri noticed that when he'd entered her, he didn't plunge into her. Instead he pulled her up to him while he supported all of her weight with one arm. Rose wrapped her legs around him as her nails dug into his back._

 _Dimitri laid on her for a moment, looking down into her eyes. Both his arms were holding Rose tightly to his body. One of his forearms was between Rose's shoulder, his palm supporting her head. Dimitri's other arm held her pelvis firmly in place against his own. Rose's body wasn't touching the floor beneath her and for those few moments she felt like she was floating. The feeling was exquisite._

 _Seconds later Dimitri was plowing into her, utterly unabashed._ That _feeling may have been even_ more _exquisite. It was certainly her undoing._

After that, everything got a little hazy. Climaxing that hard will do that to you. She vaguely remembered Dimitri sitting up with her in his lap; He pressed her down on him with both hands wrapped under her arms and up over her shoulders (which would explain the rug burn on her knees). Rose made a mental note to definitely try that again when she was in a state that she could actually remember the pleasure (and maybe not on the carpet next time). But she very clearly remembered the carpet and she had the burns to prove it. She had no recollection how they ended up in bed, though.

Rose attempted to move again yet let out another hiss.

"Roza, what's wrong?" Dimitri asked groggily, still half asleep.

"Nothing. Just some rug burn".

Rose felt Dimitri's form rumble beneath her. "Let me guess, knees and ass?" He asked.

"You too?"

"Yep", he chuckled, "and my forearems".

 _Rose, are you alright?_ Lissa asked through the bond.

Rose groaned. "I need to talk to Lissa. She's anxious. She's gonna come looking for me if I don't answer her. She's worried enough as it is".

Dimitri quirked his eyebrow at her. "How do you know?"

Rose pointed to her temple. "Bonded. Remember?".

Rose started rummaging around for her phone. She squirmed towards her nightstand, where she usually kept her phone. Obviously it wasn't there. Reluctantly and with a groan, she got out of bed and started scrummaging her discarded clothing to find her jeans and check the pockets. Not finding it and figuring it must have fallen out the previous night, she started picking up clothes in search of her damn phone.

"Looking for this?" Dimitri held up her phone between his forefinger and his thumb, dangling it in front of him, smirking like an imp.

"You jerk!" Rose threw the jeans she held in her hand at him.

He chortled. "If I was a jerk I would have enjoyed the view for a little longer before giving you back your phone".

Rose very much wanted to hold back the giggle that escaped her mouth.

Dimitri got out of bed, sauntered over to Rose and placed a firm kiss on her lips. "I love it when you do that", he said.

"Do what?" she giggle again.

"That".

All words were lost when Dimitri pulled Rose to him with both hands on her ass. But when Rose felt her ass vibrate she pulled back a bit puzzled. She didn't think even Dimitri could have powers like that.

"Oh, it's your phone", Dimitri handed Rose her phone, but didn't leg go of her other cheek.

"Nice", she said, playfully disgusted.

"Hi Liss", Rose answered her phone and gently pushed Dimitri back with her hand on his chest. Dimitri took a step back but held Rose's hand on his chest where she'd placed it.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Dimitri could hear Lissa's side of the conversation as well. He wondered if the phone was just that loud or if he was becoming more aware of his strengths.

"I'm fine, Lissa. I promise".

 _"Good. Did you sleep at all? Did Dimitri take good care of you?"._

"I slept very well and Dimitri took _excellent_ care of me".

 _"Good. Listen, Rose, we need to talk, you're aura looked really bad yesterday",_ Lissa said worriedly.

Dimitri gave Rose a puzzled look.

"Yeah, sure, we'll talk. But I gotta go right now, Liss". Rose was blowing her off. Lissa knew it. Dimitri knew it. Even Christian, Sydney and Adrian who were listening in on Lissa's side of the call knew it.

 _"Okay, Oh, before you go, Alberta has called a meeting at 1AM. Don't be late"._

"Sure thing. Bye!" Rose hung up.

"What was that about your aura?" Dimitri asked as soon as Rose hung up.

Rose shrugged. "No idea. Hey, how about a shower?"

Now Rose was blowing Dimitri off. But what a way to blow.

And that's how Rose found herself on her knees in her shower, with Dimitri's dick in her mouth. He had a fistful of her hair held tightly as if that was the only thing anchoring him in place. Unconsciously, he thrusted into her mouth. Which, for reasons beyond him, Rose actually seemed to enjoy and hollowed out her cheeks even more.

For a perverted second, Dimitri wondered if one of Rose's dhampir super powers was being able to fit so much of him down her throat. The thought left his brain just as quickly as it entered when Rose's teeth grazed his shaft.

"Roza, You need to stop now before I-"

Rose cut off Dimitri words when she brazenly fondled his balls. With that, anything semi-coherent was expelled from his thoughts. One final squeeze of his sack and a thrust later, Dimitri came with a glorious roar.

Rose got to her feet with a look of victory on her face. Before she had a chance to wash her mouth, Dimitri kissed her deeply. He could taste himself on her tongue and lips. The thought alone was arousing.

"Bozhe moy", he said barely above a whisper. "That was incredible".

Rose hummed in agreement.

"I'd like to return the favor".

Rose's cheeks flushed, heat rushed to her core, more so than before. "Fuck", she muttered. "We don't have time". They both knew they had to be in a meeting soon.

"Rain check?" Dimitri asked, his voice husky just thinking about it.

Rose nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes".

* * *

"WHAT?!" Rose exclaimed.

"You heard me, Rose", Alberta replied flatly. "You're on lock down for now. No leaving the compound, no hunting. You are to remain here at all times until we know it's safe". She paused at the ridiculousness of what she said. "You know what I mean. Until this Jeanine threat it taken care of, I don't want you out there".

"Then what am I supposed to do all night, Bertie?!" Rose was fuming.

"Train Dimitri. It's about damn time he started".

"What about my team, huh?"

"Lissa and Sydney will split their time between hunting and helping you train Dimitri as well as testing his abilities".

"And who exactly is going to be the slayer on this team?!" Rose hollered more than asked.

Olena Belikova cleared her throat and answered. "Me".

And now all the attendants at the meeting knew why Abe and Olena were present.

"That is ridiculous", Rose scoffed. "What about Abe?"

"Don't worry, little girl. It seems I have been grounded as well".

Sydney spoke up, "Since Jeanine clearly threatened Abe as well, Alberta is insisting that Abe stay here under the protection of the sisterhood. And I agree".

"Jeanine is a threat to everyone. Not just Abe and myself", Rose argued. " _And_ she also threatened Olena, for fucks sake".

"Rose!", Lissa chastised. She hated when Rose swore like a sailor.

"She's right though", Dimitri added his input, "Jeanine specifically asked about Abe _and_ Olena. That's not a threat that should be taken lightly". Dimitri was more than happy for Rose to sit out the next few rounds. But sending out Olena in her stead made no sense.

"How is she even going to hunt out here?" Rose was still outraged. "We have a game plan that works for us. We know the hunting ground, the lay of the land. What's she going to do? No offense Olena".

"Olena has a slightly different tactic which is just as effective", Alberta defended.

Rose was shaking her head. "This is not happening. I go out there every night and I hunt strigoi. That's what I do! It is not a safe job, boys and girls. It's dangerous! Knowing that Jeanine is out there doesn't make it more dangerous".

"Yes it does!", Alberta slammed her hands on the desk, effectively quieting the room and any more protests on Rose's tongue. "Yes it does. She already got into your head once. If you hesitate, you're dead. Or worse".

Rose was about to rebut when Dimitri grabbed her forearm under the table. Any further arguments she had died on her lips.

"What about Lissa and Sydney?" Rose asked, defeated.

"Olena will keep them safe", Alberta insisted.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't trust anyone to protect her sisters as well as she could.

Olena cleared her throat, "If I may", she said hesitantly. "It might put your mind at ease if we spar, get acquainted with my fighting style and skills. I'm up for a round. If you feel up to it".

Rose nodded. "Alright, let's go".

With each step towards the gym, Rose was liking this idea more and more. She'd spar with Olena and either put her mind to rest or prove to Alberta that she shouldn't be grounded and separated from her team.

The gym was cleared of all trainees on the mats. Rose and Olena had changed into something more befitting a sparring match. Getting to the mats, it seemed Rose and Olena had amassed an audience. Other than all participants of the adjourned meeting and the trainees in the gym, more and more students piled in to see the epic battle. And it was epic. Epic of Morphious-is-fighting-Neo proportions. Moroi and dhampir, students and faculty alike, dropped everything and rushed to catch the spectacle.

"Alright", Alberta got everyone's attention. "Rules of engagement are standard. No hitting the face with closed fists, if your opponent taps out or goes limp the fight is over. If you have staked your opponent, mocked with both hand pressed over the heart, the fight is over". Dimitri got the distinct feeling Alberta was going over the rules for his benefit. Alberta continued, "Match is 15 minutes. Rose if you take down Olena in less than 15 minutes, you will remain with your team and Olena will train Dimitri. If not, you're on lock down and will be handling all of Dimitri's training".

 _Olena will train Dimitri._ That never occurred to Rose. Or to Dimitri. Rose gave him the slightest glance. He nodded slightly, letting her know that whatever the outcome, he was okay with it. Even if he wasn't totally okay with Olena training him, and no matter how much he wanted Rose to be the one to train him, he wouldn't deny Rose the opportunity to stay with her team.

The younger girls were giddy with excitement. They filled with _OMG_ s, _did-you-see-that_ s, and _that-was-amazing_ s. Sure the members of the sisterhood were used to seeing slayers spar. But they never saw a match quite like this. It was old school vs. new age. Father America vs. Mother Russia.

Rose and Olena's fighting styles were so different that no one knew what to expect.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and one grueling grunge match later, Alberta blew her whistle. That was that. Olena held her own against Rose. And quite well at that. There were time where she almost had Rose beat. While Rose did expect Olena to be badass, she also had this prejudice that guardians became complacent at a certain age and didn't keep up their training or put effort into staying in combat ready shape. Rose was both surprised and pleased the Olena gave her a real run for her money.

In very sportswoman like attitude, Rose and Olena hugged it out once the match was over. "Take good care of my team, Olena".

Olena nodded. "Take good care of my son".

Rose nodded.

The gym cleared out pretty quickly and Dimitri approached Rose. He smiled at her. "Don't look so happy about this", Rose warned.

His smile only grew. "Is it so wrong that I'd rather have my girlfriend beat me up on a daily basis than my estranged mother do it?"

They both kind of just let the 'girlfriend' comment slide without really discussing it. It felt right, so Rose just left it at that.

Sydney called to them, "Rose, Dimitri. We need to do some test on Dimitri and work out a training program based on the results".

"Of course we do", Rose rolled her eyes and let her head drop.

"Hey, my through planning has saved your ass more than once", Syd defended.

"You're right", Rose conceded. "I apologize".

"Who are you and what have you done with Rose?" Sydney questioned. The look on her face caused Dimitri to burst out laughing.

Rose shook her head indulgently. "What do you have in mind, Syd?"

"I would like to start off with some assessments of Dimitri's abilities. We need to ascertain Dimitri's speed and strength. I've remodeled one of the storage rooms to a lab of sorts. I set it up with a treadmill and multi trainer, along with machines to monitor your heart rate, breathing and metabolism".

Dimitri nodded. "Thorough".

"Let's go!" Sydney practically squealed.

"I need a change of clothes", Dimitri said. He was not dressed for a workout.

"And I need a shower", Rose added. "We'll meet you there". Sydney gave the two the room number and they parted ways.

* * *

Dimitri changed quickly and ran ahead of Rose to meet Syd, anxious to get started with testing and training. Sydney started by taking Dimitri's blood to run all the standard test and then some.

By the time Rose joined them, Sydney already had Dimitri shirtless and hooked up to a heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and a mask that would monitor his breathing.

"So we're going to start with cardio", Sydney gestured to the treadmill. "You're going to start at walking pace and gradually build up to your maximum speed". She showed him the controls for increasing and decreasing the speed.

Dimitri did as he was told. He started off nice and slow. But after a few minutes he was running at full speed. Which wasn't as fast as Sydney thought it would be.

Syd shook her head slightly in disapproval. "He's holding back", she muttered to Rose.

Rose was surprised by Syd's reaction. Dimitri was running as fast as she usually ran. The difference was, he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He was sprinting non stop, yet he looked like it wasn't even enough of an effort for him to be winded. Where Syd was disappointed, Rose was awed. _He's like a machine_ , she thought.

Sydney stepped up to the treadmill. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine".

"What was your favorite breakfast as a child?" Sydney asked.

"What?" Dimitri looked at her confused.

"I've learned it's best not to argue with her", Rose remarked dryly. "Just answer her".

Dimitri rolled his eyes and answered truthfully. "Every Sunday morning, my dad would make me and Ivan french toast while my mom squeezed fresh orange juice", Dimitri smiled sadly at the memory. "I don't think I've had french toast since they passed away".

"Dimitri", Syd interrupted his trip down memory lane. "This is not your maximum speed. Far from it! You can still talk normally and keep pace. You're not trying hard enough!"

"He's running almost as fast as a cheetah!" Rose exclaimed.

"Don't be absurd!" Sydney retorted. "Cheetahs can run 70 miles per hour. Dimitri's barely running 40 miles per hour. That's more like, ostrich fast". She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop arguing!" Dimitri intervened. "What do you suggest I do, Sydney?"

"Run faster!"

"Uh, Syd", Rose for once was being the voice of reason. "This treadmill only goes up to 40 mph. And that's only because you modified it to meet dhampir standards of speed. If you really want to test him, you're gonna have to revamp this thing again to match strigoi speed". Rose said smugly.

"Well, shit", Sydney huffed. "Rose is right". It physically hurt her to admit some else was right.

Rose made another suggestion. "We can test his speed in the gym. But he won't be connected to any monitors so it's just to get a ball park estimate until you upgrade the treadmill".

Syd nodded. "Right. Let's move on to weights in the meanwhile. Hopefully, we can assess your full potential in that area".

Six hours later and Dimitri was done. Rose was exhausted just from watching him. Sydney declare the day as semi successful. Dimitri could lift, press, pull and crunch at almost the maximum weight on the multi trainer. Later Sydney had him get back on the treadmill to see how long he could hold his pace. After an hour, they called it quits and decided to go with Rose's idea.

In the gym, Dimitri moved fast. Still not cheetah fast, though. But fast enough to feel out of breath. "That's never happened to me before", he said bemused.

Lucky for him, Rose had had enough. She didn't want Dimitri over exhorting himself before his training commenced.

"I think we're done for the day, Sydney".

"But we still need to test his reflexes!", Syd whined.

"Tomorrow", Rose said firmly.

"Fine!" Sydney still had to run Dimitri's blood tests and come up with a solution for the treadmill. With that in mind she dismissed them.

* * *

Now that Rose had an idea of what Dimitri could do, she was thinking up a training plan that was appropriate for his physical condition and state of mind. Usually, young girls started out with endurance training before maturing and moving on to combat and weapons. Plus that had to be factored in with the rest of their curriculum.

None of that applied to Dimitri, though. Sure, there was a need for building up endurance, it was just on a whole other level. He was most lacking in hand to hand combat and staking. And he wasn't restricted by other engagements. He could dedicate 8 hours a day to training.

"What's on your mind, Roza?" Dimitri asked when he walked out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. "You look a million miles away".

"Just thinking about your training", Rose answered truthfully.

Dimitri nodded. "What do you have in mind?" He dropped his towel and crawled into bed beside Rose.

Rose laid her head on Dimitri's chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "Well, hand to hand combat for sure. We'll start with the basics. You've got natural skill and raw talent, so hopefully, you'll be able to advance quickly and…" Rose cut her sentence short when she realize Dimitri's breath had evened and he was fast asleep.

* * *

Rose and Dimitri woke bright and early the following day to begin training. They had commandeered one of the training room, lined it with mats from wall to wall. This particular training room had a mirror wall, like a dance studio would have. It helped teach the would-be slayers how to move their bodies while they could actually see how their bodies moved.

Rose and Dimitri spent hours on basic punches, kicks, and blocks, followed by combos.

"When you're up against one of _them_ , you don't think, you act. We rely a lot on muscle memory. We let instinct take over in battle".

Dimitri listened to every word Rose uttered as if his life depended on it, because in all likelihood, it did. He did as she instructed without question. He followed orders without hesitation. He trusted Rose to prepare him. He trusted Rose to give him the tools he needed to save lives, including his own.

Almost everything Rose was teaching Dimitri was new to him. Yes, he'd boxed in the past and did some martial arts as a kid. Dimitri knew how to handle himself in an altercation. But his was completely different. The fighting style he was learning now, the way he was making his body move, ached in places he didn't realize could hurt.

"We're almost done for the day, babe", Rose smiled at Dimitri. They were both sweaty and huffing. Rose sat cross legged in front of Dimitri with her back leaned against the mirror. "I want you to show me all the moves we've been going over today".

Dimitri did as he was told.

"Good. Very good". Rose nodded. "Now I want you to do that faster".

Dimitri repeated the punched and kicks.

Rose nodded again. "Faster".

Once again Dimitri complied.

"Again", Rose commanded.

Dimitri was getting frustrated. He didn't know what this tactic was supposed to accomplish, but he did as he was told anyway.

"You're faster than this, Dimitri. Stop thinking, and just own it".

Dimitri's arms fell to his side. His fighting stance all forgotten. He looked defeated. "How the fuck am I supposed to do that Rose?!". Dimitri immediately regretted his behavior. "I'm sorry. It's just frustrating and I didn't mean to take it out on you".

Rose took a deep breath. She knew she was pushing him, but right now, he needed to be pushed. "Close your eyes, comrade".

With that one word, Dimitri knew he was forgiven. He closed his eyes.

"Fighting stance", Rose instructed. "Don't open your eyes. Now try again". Without him knowing it, Rose was filming Dimitri. When he advanced in his training they'd be able to monitor his progression. "Excellent", Rose said pleased.

"Was I any faster?"

"A little". Rose got up off the mats. "Come on, let's shower and get some lunch".

* * *

At lunch with her sisters, Sydney suddenly exclaimed, "Lissa had a great idea this morning to test Dimitri's reflexes".

"You know how my greatest guilty pleasure is watching tennis on espn?" Lissa asked rhetorically. "Well. I thought we could get one of those training machines that throw balls at the tennis players. Sydney can probably MacGyver it to even greater speed and throwing harder". Lissa continued proudly, "We can start by turning it on aimed at you Rose. Get an idea how a regular dhampir handles the machine's output. Then test it on Dimitri. Even if he gets hit more than he actually catches or deflects balls, then at least he'll have been trained in how to take a hit".

Sydney clapped happily as Lissa stood and took a bow.

"I can't believe you called me a regular dhampir", Rose grumbled. While Lissa and Sydney hi-fived, Rose asked, "Where are you even going to get one of those?"

That's when the table suspiciously quieted down.

"We may have asked Abe to procure one", Sydney mumbled.

"And he agreed to this?"

"He actually thought it was a really good idea", Lissa answered. "He said that if it works well, we should bring more in, to do target practice with weapons and magic", she beamed.

"Yeah", Sydney added. "Abe said we'll have one here the day after tomorrow".

"I gotta say", Rose said, "I am thoroughly impressed".

"So Sydney", Dimitri asked, "Any news on my bloodwork?"

"Everything I tested so far looks ordinary. But there are still test results I'm waiting on".

* * *

As promised, the following day, the ball machine from hell arrived and Sydney put it to use, attacking Rose. As good as Rose's instincts and reflexes were, and as fast and strong as she was, she still took a few good hit from those 'stupid yellow furry balls'.

When it was Dimitri's turn, Sydney started the ball machine slow and worked up the speed gradually. It seemed that Dimitri was doing pretty well. He dodged and deflected. But as soon as he took one hard hit, he lost focus. More and more balls hit him until Sydney finally took pity on him and shut the machine off.

"That was actually pretty good", Sydney said.

"That was horrific", Dimitri corrected.

"No", Rose, Sydney and Lissa said, far from wholeheartedly.

"Look", Lissa said, "you just started training, you're still getting used to accessing your full potential. This is a lot to take in and a lot to learn how to use. But you'll get there. I have faith in you". Her big green eyes conveyed nothing but confidence. "Besides, now you know what to expect next time the ball hits you", she smiled.

"Thanks for giving me something to look forward to", Dimitri answered sarcastically.

"Shall we try again?" Sydney asked.

Dimitri nodded. As it turns out, Lissa was right. He was much better prepared this time and when the balls started hitting him, it hurt, but he didn't lose his cool. He still didn't do as well as Rose, but that was to be expected.

"Alright, that's it for now", Rose called it. "We promised the munchkin we'd have lunch with her", she reminded Dimitri they made plans to spend lunch with Mia.

"I feel like I haven't seen her in ages", Lissa said.

Sydney skipped on lunch. "I have some stuff to check on in the lab. I'll see you guys later. Oh!", she chirped, "I think I have an idea how to make you faster tomorrow when we train with balls of fury".

* * *

"Alright, fine, munchkin", Rose said exasperated, "You can have one last scoop of ice-cream. I swear you had more ice cream than lunch", she muttered the last part.

As Mia was eating her dessert in glee, Sydney rushed towards their table, surprising everyone. The group knew well that Sydney wasn't much of a lunch person, she was more a hearty breakfast and an early dinner type of person.

"Rose, I need to talk to you", she said, a bit breathless. "Now". There was no room for argument.

"Sure", Rose answered. Then turned to Dimitri, "I'll come find you later and we can continue endurance training".

Sydney practically dragged Rose off. Rose had no problem keeping up with a human, but Sydney's urgency and secrecy where working her.

"Syd, you're freaking me out", Rose said when they were safely in Sydney's lab.

Sydney took a few calming breaths. "When is your period due?"

Rose stared blankly at her sister. "What?" she murmured.

"I just got some very interesting results regarding Dimitri's genetics and fertility. So", Syd asked impatiently, "When was your last period Rose?!"

* * *

 ** _A/N: Don't forget to review!_**


	11. Chapter 11 - Declarations of Love

_A/N:_

 _Hi Guys!_

 _Life has been crazy but I still managed to update today. Yeay me!_

 _I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads and follows. Special thanks to reviewers - you guys are the best! And I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to thank each one of you individually last chapter. But here's a chapter to make up for it!_

 _Love_

 _K_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 11 - Declarations of Love_**

Rose was in an utter state of shock. The news Sydney just delivered left her catatonic. Rose blinked several times before she noticed that Sydney was weaving her hands in front of her face and repeatedly calling her name.

"Rose!" Sydney yelled frantically. "If you don't snap out of this I will slap you!"

Sydney pulled back her hand, but before her palm cracked across Rose's cheek, Rose caught it.

"Oh, thank god", Syd sagged in relief.

"I just got my period this morning, Sydney", Rose said just above a whisper.

Sydney practically beamed, till she noticed the sullen expression on Rose's face. Mistaking the look on, Sydney pulled out a kit to take a blood sample. "I know in early stages of pregnancy minor bleeding isn't uncommon. So we'll just take a blood sample to make sure you're not pregnant and that'll put your mind at ease", she smiled to comfort Rose. "The results should only take a couple of hours".

Rose nodded and returned the smile as best she could. She went to her room, hoping she could be alone for a while. She was pleasantly surprised that Dimitri managed to find a way to keep busy without her. Sydney texted her with the test results as soon as they were in.

Rose was _not_ pregnant.

Syd followed with a text asking if they need to discuss birth control options, accompanied with a sting of emoticon for laughter and silliness.

Rose stared at her phone and reread the text that she wasn't pregnant over and over again. She should have been ecstatic. She should have been doing backflips because she dodged the bullet. It was only when Dimitri returned to her room that she realized she was crying.

"Roza", Dimitri rushed to her and knelt before her. "What's wrong?"

"I got my period this morning", she answered between sobs.

"Okay", Dimitri said timidly. He was at a loss for words. He wondered if Rose was trying to say that the crying was just hormones.

Rose covered her face with her hands, utterly embarrassed.

"Roza, why are crying?" Dimitri asked softly.

By now Rose's eyes were puffy and red. Her nose was running. "We can't have children".

Dimitri didn't answer. He didn't know what to say because this wasn't news to either of them. "I'm not following, Milaya. We've know from the start that we can't have children together".

"Haven't you ever thought about having a kid?" Rose questioned. "Did the idea of being a father ever cross your mind?"

"Rose", Dimitri swallowed hard. "Is this about me? Or is this about you? Wanting to be a mother?" Dimitri felt guilt about not being able to give Rose children. He knew one day this conversation would come, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

Rose thought of the prophecy, about the part that mentioned offspring. She never put much faith in it, but she learning that Dimitri could have children with another dhampir, just not her, made her believe that in likelihood Dimitri would wind up with someone else. She was resigned in the knowledge that one day she'd lose him.

Rose shook her head and answered Dimitri's question. "I'm nineteen, I've never given parenthood a thought. But the prophecy-".

"Is breathtaking bullshit." Dimitri cut her off. "Even after everything I've seen and done since I met you, I don't believe that load of bull". Dimitri cupped Rose's cheek. "I'm not going to lie to you. I do want to be a father some day". He wiped her tears. "But I don't want that if it's not with you", he said fiercely.

Rose shook her head again and distanced herself from Dimitri. "You can't know that! We hardly know each other!" She raised her voice.

"I do know that!" Dimitri raised to his feet as well. His hulking figure towered over Rose as he held her face firmly. "I know you. And none of that other stuff matters to me. Not the prophecy and not being a father. I want _you_ , Roza. I _love_ you".

Rose's heart fluttered. She was speechless. That must have been a first. She just stared at Dimitri with those big doe eyes of hers, brimmed with tears again.

"I love you", Dimitri repeated.

Tears were streaking Rose's cheeks.

At that moment Rose didn't have it in her to be held back by her insecurities. The thought that Dimitri would one day leave her for another woman who he could have children with, the thought that plagued her ever since Rose got her results back from Sydney, had completely left her mind with that one declaration. Dimitri was in love with her.

"Why are you crying, moya lyubov?"

"Because," Rose sniffled, "Because I love you too", she finally answered, wondering how her heart hadn't burst.

Dimitri's smile could have lit up the blackest sky. Rose couldn't help but return it just before she got up on her tippy toes to meet Dimitri half way as he lent in to kiss her. It was just a quick brush of their lips. The loving embrace that followed may have been the most intimate gesture they had shared yet.

After holding each other for the longest time, Rose's brain registered that Dimitri was sweaty as hell and in dire need of shower. She pulled back and scrunched her nose. "So what have you been up to all this time?" Rose asked.

Dimitri chuckled. "I was in the gym with Lissa. She was there to make sure I didn't overdue it with my endurance training".

Rose nodded. "Good. I'm glad you didn't miss a training session because of me".

"So what did Sydney need to talk to you about that was so important and kept you away for so long?" _And had you crying your eyes out?_ he wondered quietly.

"Sydney got some results from your blood work".

Dimitri looked at Rose puzzled. Surely if it was about _his_ blood work, Sydney should have sought _him_ out as well.

Rose cleared her throat. "Sydney said that you could have children with another dhampir, so she asked when my last period was, and she gave me a pregnancy test, just to make sure. She texted me a little while before you got back that I'm not pregnant".

Dimitri just looked more puzzled. "Rose, you just said you and I can't have children".

"I'm not pregnant. We've been having unprotected sex like bunnies for like a week and a half".

"So?", Dimitri still didn't follow.

"So if I'm not pregnant from our very sexual time together, I'm obviously not going to get pregnant", Rose answered sullenly.

For the first time since they'd met, Dimitri understood just how young and naive Rose was. It just made her freak-out that much more endearing to him. Plus he was going to have a talk with Alberta about going over the Sex-Ed curriculum. "Sweetie, the fact that you aren't pregnant doesn't mean anything. Not every unprotected sexual encounter ends with a pregnancy. It can take a couple month or even years to conceive", he smiled knowingly. "There are so many factors to consider. I mean if you got your period today, you probably weren't ovulating when we…" he gestured between the two of them, not quite sure which word to use.

"Porked?" Rose suggested, and laughed maniacally when Dimitri rolled his eyes. "So… one day… we…"

This time is was Dimitri's turn to fill in the blanks, "Can make a baby?"

"EEwww! That is so gross when you say it like that!"

Dimitri's booming laughter filled the entire room.

"Hit the showers, stinky!" Rose called over his laugh. "I gotta go get a prescription filled".

* * *

The following day at breakfast, Sydney was happy to see Rose back to herself. But she quickly learned that Rose wasn't done with difficult conversations. Not by a long shot.

Dimitri and Rose were already at the table when Sydney and Adrian joined them. Soon Lissa and Christian joined as well.

"Welcome back", Rose said to Christian and Adrian. Both moroi had been on assignment at court. Adrian, being the grand nephew of the queen, was the perfect liaison for Sisterhood affairs.

"Aw, did you miss me, Rosie?" Chris made kissing noises.

"Only in the way you miss an STD when it clears up", Rose answered.

Adrian laughed so hard that orange juice almost spurt out of his nose.

"Can't you be nice to each other?" Lissa asked no one in particular.

"You know they secretly love each other", Sydney chimed in, causing the entire table to burst in a fit of giggles.

When the group had calmed, Lissa approached the aura subject again. "So Rose, we need to talk about your aura. I'm not going to let you blow me off this time!" She insisted when Rose rolled her eyes.

"I don't feel like talking about this", Rose was irritated that Lissa would bring this up in front of Dimitri.

"Well I figured if you won't talk to me, maybe you'll talk to Adrian". Lissa knew Adrian was far better at reading auras than she was.

Dimitri was the one that broke the awkward silence, "What's wrong with Rose's aura?"

"Wrong?" Rose bumbled. "Why would you assume anything was wrong?"

"Rose", Adrian shook his head, not believing that Rose didn't tell Dimitri what was going on with her. "Lissa said your aura was almost completely black after you met Jeanine".

"Black is bad?" Dimitri more stated than asked.

Rose gasped exaggeratedly, "That's just racist, comrade!".

Dimitri rolled his eyes and waited for an explanation. "Someone please tell me what's going on". Dimitri was scary quiet when he spoke.

"Rose is what we call shadow kissed", Adrian explained. "When Lissa brought her back after the accident, the bond was created. The side effect of that bond, of returning from the land of the dead, is that Rose is shadow kissed. Her aura is tainted with darkness. We don't understand the darkness fully. But we do know that it's affected by Spirit magic. If Lissa uses too much magic it could get worse. On the other hand, the darkness can be elevated at least partly with spirited charms". Adrian paused for a moment before he continuing. "The thing is the darkness is effected by Rose as well. When Rose is upset or distraught, the darkness creeps in a little bit more"

Lissa concluded Adrian's little speech, turning to Dimitri, "When you and Rose ran into Jeanine the other night, there was almost nothing but darkness in Rose's aura".

Dimitri was taking it all in rather well, Rose thought.

"Okay", he said, "But what does that mean? What does the darkness do?"

The table fell silent again. No one was inclined to respond to Dimitri's question. In any case, they all felt Rose should be the one to answer.

"It blackens your soul", Rose finally replied. "Most of the time, I'm fine. I can keep it at bay. But every once in a while", Rose trailed off. Her eyes go misty. She cleared her throat, "Every once in a while, I lose control. I'm lucky I haven't harmed an innocent yet". The silence continued until Rose broke it again. "If history tells us anything, I'll eventually go insane and kill myself".

Dimitri felt his chest tighten.

"We are not going to let that happen!" Lissa said fiercely.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dimitri asked Rose, just above a whisper.

"I never got around to it", she answered. Rose knew it was a lame answer, but it was all she had.

Dimitri nodded. His face was impassive and gave nothing away but Rose knew him better than that. She could tell he was raging on the inside. Whether it was because she didn't disclose the truth or because of the situation, Rose didn't know.

"How is her aura now?" Dimitri asked Adrian.

"Mostly orange. A mixture of fear and anger. The darkness is tinging the edges, but it's creeping further inward. Probably because Rose is anxious that we're talking about it", Adrian answered in a trance like state. He shook his head as if to clear it, "The amount of darkness right now is just slightly more than usual, but still isn't something we've never seen before".

"So Rose's aura, after her encounter with Jeanine, was something you've never seen before", Dimitri concluded.

"We saw something pretty close", Lissa said. "About a year ago, a moroi tried to get frisky with me".

"He attacked you", Chris interjected.

"And I went ballistic", Rose said. "I nearly killed him. The only thing that stopped me was a charmed necklace Adrian gave me. It activated and healed enough of the darkness that I could pull back".

"The point that we're trying to make", Adrian said, "is that Lissa and I need to make you an arsenal of charms you can wear at all times".

Rose nodded numbly.

"By the way", Adrian asked, "How did you gain control? After Jeanine?"

"It was Dimitri".

Adrian was impressed.

"It was you, Roza", Dimitri corrected.

That made Rose feel slightly better about herself, even if she could see that Dimitri was still upset.

Lissa and Sydney's phones beeped simultaneously.

"We're going out with Olena tonight", Lissa answered Rose's questioning gaze.

"Don't worry", Syd added, "we'll be fine".

"I always worry", Rose replied. "Be safe".

* * *

 _A/N: Don't forget to review!_


	12. Chapter 12 - Strange Days

**_Chapter 12 - Strange Days_**

After sending Sydney and Lissa off hunting with Olena, Dimitri and Rose continued to their daily morning practice. Dimitri was having a hard time focusing. His mind was understandably elsewhere. It's not every day you find out the love of your life might suffer a horrible fate. That's not even considering her hazardous occupation.

Rose could tell that Dimitri's heart wasn't into their sparring. She knew it was because he found out about the darkness. Yet despite Dimitri already knowing, Rose didn't want to talk about it. She was going to avoid that conversation for as long as she could.

When they took a much needed break, Dimitri sat on the floor and guzzled down his water bottle. Rose joined him with her own bottle.

"Are we going to talk about this?" Dimitri asked, breaking the silence.

"About what?" Rose played innocent.

"You know what, Rose", Dimitri answered sternly. "Why didn't you tell me about the darkness?"

Rose dropped her head to her hands. She took a breath. "I wanted to. So many times, but there was never the right opportunity".

Dimitri shook his head. "That's bull. You chose to keep me in the dark".

"Can you honestly blame me?" Rose asked incredulously, raising her voice. "It's not as if you're taking the news all that well, comrade!".

"You still should have told me. I have a right to know!"

Rose scoffed. "Why? Why do you have a right to know?"

"I can't believe you're actually asking me that, Rose! We're supposed to be in a committed relationship. That means we tell each other these things! We tell each other the big stuff. 'Hi, I'm Rose, I'm 19, I'm dhampir, I slay vampires, I take darkness from my best friend and it might make me lose my mind someday'."

Rose huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, well…", the fight and defiance completely left her. She knew without a doubt that this time, she was in the wrong. "I'm sorry. You're right, I should have told you. But I was so scared of how you'd take it".

Rose's honesty disarmed him. Dimitri looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't want you to go all overprotective on me, or worse, scare you off. I mean, you had so much to deal with as it is, I didn't want to add to that".

"Rose, you told me you hunt strigoi and I'm the chosen one from an ancient prophecy. There's _nothing_ you can say that will scare me off". He took her hands in his, "I'm upset and hurt that you felt you couldn't share this with me. But I'm worried about you and I'm frustrated at the situation. I love you, Roza. I will always do anything in my power to keep you safe", he said softly.

Rose smiled. "I love you too, Dimitri".

* * *

It had been days since Dimitri learned about Rose's darkness. The knowledge shook him to his very core. When they weren't training , Dimitri kept an extra vigilant eye on Rose. It seemed Rose knew him better than she thought - he was in fact hovering, overbearing and overprotective.

"Enough is enough, Dimitri! You can't keep doing this!", Rose said one night before bed, after a particularly loaded dinner when Dimitri tried to lay down ground rules for when it was okay for Lissa to use her element and when Rose should take the darkness.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I just can't stand the thought of something happening to you and not being able to help". Dimitri flopped back on the bed, disparaged.

"I get it. I really do", Rose rubbed Dimitri's chest comfortingly, "but I've been this way for a long time. There's nothing you can do to change that. And you need to remember that I'm a kick ass slayer", Rose said smugly, causing Dimitri to chuckle.

"I know, milaya", Dimitri said at last. Cupping her cheek, he continued, "But you need to understand that no matter what, I will always worry about you. I will always put you first".

Rose bit her lip and nodded. "I feel the same way", Rose turned her had to place a kiss in Dimitri's palm.

.

After that, things settled down. As much as things _can_ settle down in their world.

Rose and Dimitri continued training. Dimitri was getting better and better with each passing day. He was faster and stronger than anything they'd ever seen. His reflexes were beyond compare. And to top it all off, he was a quick study. He picked up any moves Rose taught him as though they came naturally to him. Rose was sure that pretty soon, he'd be able to go back into the field, as a fully trained slayer.

.

Durning that time, Sydney, Lissa and Olena had gotten into a groove. They went out slaying 3 nights a weeks, almost always returning with glory stories. If Rose was being honest with herself, she was a bit jealous. She missed slaying with her sisters. But it was for the best. Dimitri's training was coming along and Olena's methods had results.

* * *

"Olena, do you copy?" Sydney's voice rang through Olena's ear piece, just like every time they went out on missions.

"Copy", Olena answered discreetly.

Tonight, the ladies were hitting a homeless shelter. They received a tip that people were going missing from the shelter, the numbers were higher than usual, so they decided to investigate.

They stumbled on 2 strigoi. The strigoi weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but they were tools. Olena had already taken one of them out and was engaging the second, when the trio found out that there was another strigoi.

This strigoi was smarter than the other two and obviously had more knowledge of sisterhood protocols, since he attacked the van where Sydney and Lissa were.

Both girls were terrified. They'd both been in the presence of strigoi, were both attacked by strigoi in some way or another, but never without a slayer.

Lissa was still learning how to use spirit offensively, so she was useless until someone was injured. Adrian was teaching her and vice versa, but they both had a suspicion that each spirit user wielded their element in different ways.

Petrified as she was, the bond kicked in and Rose was sucked into Lissa's head. Rose froze. Thankfully she stuck that landing of the backflip she was showing Dimitri right before she was sucked into spirit induced catatonia, otherwise she would have landed on her head.

Dimitri, who had only ever heard of Rose going limp like this, shook her hard to pull her back to reality.

"They're under attack", Rose whispered, still dazed for a second. "They're under attack! We need to get help!" The two rushed to get help.

Meanwhile, Olena heard the screams over the comms. She dispatched the strigoi she was dealing with as quickly as possible and high tailed it to the van.

Sydney and Lissa where huddled in the back of the van. All Sydney could think was that she needed to do something quick before they both wound up on the memorial wall back at sisterhood headquarters.

That's when she got a brilliant idea. Syd always had small satchels with concoctions she was playing around with. Ever since a teacher at the sisterhood gave her a book on witchcraft, that she never took seriously, Sydney had been playing around with potions and spells in her spare time. She never actually cast one, it was more something she did when she was bored. But right now, Sydney and Lissa needed a miracle. She pulled out a satchel from her bag, recited a spell and threw it at the strigoi. It was a direct hit at the strigoi's chest.

Nothing happened. The strigoi looked down at his chest where the satchel hit and laughed. His laugh was scary and evil. If he were human, he would have turned blue in the face from laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed until his chest went ablaze with fire.

His screams of agony filled the van. Lissa was quick on her feet as well and used all the spirit she could muster to push the still-screaming strigoi out of the van and directly onto Olena's poised stake.

Faster than you can say blueberry muffins, Sydney dispatched the strigoi corpses and the team sped back to the safety of the sisterhood.

By the time Rose had alerted the cavalry, her team was already out of danger. The second unit sent out was more of a precaution and an escort.

Rose waited for her sisters anxiously in the parking garage along with Dimitri, Christian and Adrian. As soon as they de-boarded the van, Rose had Lissa and Sydney engulfed in a bear hug. When Christian and Adrian realized Rose wasn't letting go any time soon, they each threw their arms around the bundle of girls creating a weird group hug.

Olena and Dimitri stood off to the side. Neither feeling in place with the hugging.

"Are you alright?" Dimitri asked Olena, he noticed she was walking with a limp.

The smiled that graced Olena's face at her son's concern was a testament to her true beauty. "I'm fine. Thank you".

"You sure?"

Olena chuckled, "I've had worse".

Dimitri saw she was barely leaning any weight on her left leg. "I can take a look, if you'd like".

Olena nodded, "That's very kind of you".

When Rose finally release her sisters to their respective boyfriends, she embrace Olena.

In her heart Olena wished it was Dimitri who had hugged her. But they were taking baby steps.

They all rode the elevator in silence, Rose and Dimitri helping Olena and giving her medical attention, Sydney and Lissa on their way to debrief Alberta.

"Hey, Sage", Rose called out to Sydney as the exited the elevator on sickbay level, just before the doors of the elevator closed, "We're going to talk about how the fuck you did that".

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _So that just happened._

 _I know it's short, but short is better than nothing, right?_

 _Anyway, don't forget to review!_

 _And fear not, it won't take me a month to update again now that summer vacation is over (woo hoo!)_

 _Thanks,_

 _K_


	13. Chapter 13 - Black Magic Woman

**_Chapter 13 - Black Magic Woman_**

Following the events in the van, where she basically saved the day with her witchy-woo, Sydney sought out the teacher who originally gave her that stupid spell book.

The book was an old leather binding. The pages had yellow and several came loose. But the volume itself was beautiful. It had an intricate engraving on the cover of what could only be described as a lily. Ms. Terwilliger claimed it was a family heirloom when she gave it to her favorite student, Sydney Sage. She herself and no living relatives and wanted to gift it to her best and brightest student at the sisterhood before retiring. Sydney tried refusing the gift under the premise that it was too much, such a book must have been worth a fortune. But her teacher had insisted.

"Brightest student, my ass", Sydney grumbled to herself as she dredged the streets of a small town an hour outside the city, looking for the ancient teacher's last known address.

Ironically, the town was named Salem.

 _Just my luck_ , Sydney thought as she knocked on the door of a dilapidated 2 story house, _it's a dump_. It seemed the grass hadn't been cut in… ever, the screen door wasn't even connected to its hinges. Sydney wasn't sure whether she wanted the door answered or not.

After knocking for the third time without response, she had all but given up. The place must have been abandoned. It certainly looked it. She was contemplating checking if the township had any records of Ms. Terwilliger whereabouts when the door opened with a loud creak.

"Ms. Sage, I've been expecting you", Ms. Terwilliger said ominously and stepped aside to let the young woman in. "Won't you come in?"

 _If you were expecting me, why'd it take you so long to open the damn door?_ Sydney thought but didn't dare speak out loud. "Thank you", was all she said.

Once inside, Sydney saw the house was very different than what she expected. It was in complete contrast to the outside. Everything seemed new and expensive. "Your home is beautiful", Sydney complemented.

"I know", her teacher chuckled. "You've come because you finally learned about your power". Ms. Terwilliger stated simply as the two sat in her living room across from one another.

"Yes". Sydney was glad she was the one who had to bring it up, she already felt like she was losing her mind. "I threw a fire amulet at a strigoi and he burst into flames!" Sydney rambled. She fidgeted with her fingers so her hands wouldn't shake.

It had been a week since it happen and Sydney still hadn't come to terms with it. She avoided everyone's questioning eyes. Adrian knew he needed to steer clear of the subject and not even look at his girlfriend too intently or she'd lock herself up in the lab. Again. So he kept his mouth shut and averted his gaze, thus being the only person Sydney could stand being around.

"Well that is something", Ms. Terwilliger smirked. Her words brought Sydney back to the present.

"What's going on with me? What am I?", she asked barely above a whisper.

"Oh, we've had many names. Magicians, conjurers, sorceresses, enchantresses. But I'm most partial to witch".

Sydney stared at her former teacher blankly, so the latter continued.

"Don't be so surprised. You've always known you were different. You've always known you were more intuitive. Now you know why", Ms, Terwilliger seemed quite pleased with herself.

"How is this possible?" Sydney asked. "And how did you know?"

"Unlike many other traits, being a witch is not something that's inherited. It's not something that's in your bloodline, if that's what you were thinking".

That's exactly what Sydney was thinking.

"Every witch comes inter her own at different stages in their lives. They have different levels of power, different specialities. You my dear", Ms. Terwilliger leaned forward and took Sydney's hands in hers, "are very powerful. I can feel it radiating off you. Which is why I gave you the book. I hoped it would peek your interest and you'd start practicing and believing on your own".

"I wasn't practicing. I was just messing around. And I threw that damn amulet because we were about to die and I figured, what the hell", Sydney said.

"And now?", Ms. Terwilliger gave her a knowing look.

"And now, I want more. I went back to the sisterhood and devoured that book, cover to cover. I locked myself in my lab for 30 hours straight and I've tried every incantation and potion in it", Sydney was on a rant.

"Did they all work?" Ms. Terwilliger asked, shocked.

Sydney nodded, "For the most part. They all seemed very rudimentary and for a beginner level".

"That's because they are", the teacher answered. "But still, it should have taken you weeks to get through. That's incredible. And dangerous".

Sydney looked at her puzzled. "Why?"

"Because, using too much magic, especially without any training, can be lethal. You could have really hurt yourself or someone else".

Sydney accepted the answer. Who was she to argue when she was the novice.

"You need to slow down. Think of it as exercise. You need to warm up, build strength and stamina gradually".

"Then teach me", Sydney practically begged.

Sydney left Ms. Terwilliger's with a new stack of old books and a regiment of what she should go over for the next week. Essentially, Sydney was getting homework again. But she loved it. They made plans to meet in a week's time and that's how Sydney started getting privately tutored in witchcraft.

* * *

When she got back to the sisterhood, Sydney was in the best mood she'd been in a while, especially considering the attack on the van. She immediately dragged Adrian to their room to share the news. Adrian was the most understanding and accepting boyfriend in the world until Sydney hinted at the danger of using too much magic. That's when he lost it.

"Are you crazy? You shouldn't be doing any of this if it's that dangerous!".

"You're one to talk", Sydney yelled back. "You use spirit all the time, you self medicate with cigarettes and alcohol and you dare tell me that what I'm doing is dangerous?"

"It's different for me, Syd!"

"Why?" She practically screamed and threw her hands up in the air.

"Because I don't care what happens to me! But I do care what happens to you!", Adrian was breathing heavily.

" _I_ care what happens to you!" Sydney roared. "How dare you put yourself at risk without even considering what it'll do to me if anything were to ever happen to you?!"

Adrain had never seen his girlfriend so furious. She may have been right in this occasion. But for a change, he was right as well. "Pot", he point at himself. "Kettle", Adrian pointed at her.

Sydney rubbed her hands on her face. "You may have a point", she conceded. "But I can control how much magic I practice. I can stick to Ms. Terwilliger's plan. You can't control your the darkness. And _that_ is the difference".

Adrian huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Besides, I go out strigoi hunting with a slayer 3 nights a week. That's far more dangerous that anything else I can do".

Adrian was still resolved that this was too dangerous. "And it kills me every time you go out. But there's always a slayer there with you. You go out with a team and I trust Rose or Olena to always keep you safe and Lissa to always have your back. Plus I know that I can heal you if anything happens".

Sydney wanted to say there are some things you can't heal, but she was afraid of Adrain's answer, so she let it go.

"I've never asked you to give up using spirit. Don't you ask me to give this up", Sydney said with a finality to it. "I'm doing this whether you want me to or not. I'd rather do it with your support, Adrian".

"Just promise me you won't don't anything stupid", Adrian gripped his girl tightly, as though she might vanish, and pressed his forehead against hers.

Sydney smiled with the victory and leaned into him. "When have I ever don't anything stupid?", she smirked.

"When you agreed to go out with me?" Adrian questioned. "When you agreed to live with me? When you fell in love with me? The list is long, Sage, and it all revolved around me", Adrian smiled that crooked smile of his.

"Oh, Adrian, when will you realize that falling in love with you is the best thing that ever happened to me?". She pulled him in for a searing kiss.

* * *

Sydney gathered Rose and Lissa for a girls night for her coming out. Adrian didn't take it all that well but she'd hoped her sisters would handle it better. She penciled in a closed get together in one of the rec rooms and got pizza and candy and a girly movie.

"Thank god!" Rose hugged Sydney as soon as they met.

Rose and Lissa were beyond worried about Sydney. After the incident in the van she closed herself off to everyone accept Adrian. When Ablerta saw Sydney struggling to cope she gave her a few days off. So the girls hadn't seen Sydney for a few days.

"Rose it's my turn!" Lisa whined and nudged Rose aside to hug Sydney herself.

The girls convened around the pizza while Sydney blurted out it out. "So, I'm a witch".

The girls blinked at her for a second. "Oh, sweetie", Rose said, "I think you mean you're a bitch. With a 'b'".

Sydney was shocked she didn't quite know how to respond to that.

Then Lissa and Rose started laughing uncontrollably. "You should have seen your face!" Rose said between fits of laughter.

"I wish I'd had a camera", Lissa added.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Sydney demanded.

"Well, we kinda already figured that out", Rose took another bite of her pizza.

"What? How?"

"Well", Lissa, who hadn't stuffed her face with cheesy goodness, answered, "you threw something at a strigoi and cast a spell, that it lit on fire. It wasn't that hard to guess that you're something else".

"Besides", Rose swallowed, "Olena already told us".

Sydney snorted, "Well, how did she know?"

"Turns out her mother is a… What's the word, Lissa?"

"Vrăjitoare", Liss answered. "It pretty much means witch".

"So you gonna start practicing now?", Rose asked, shoveling down another slice of heaven.

"Yeah, Ms. Terwilliger, the old history teacher, is going to mentor me. It turns out she didn't just happen to give me that Spell, potions and incantations for beginners book".

"Is that like witchcraft for Dummies?" Rose asked, and evil smirk etched on her greasy lips.

Sydney couldn't help but laugh. "I guess. But pretty soon, I'll be able to turn you into a toad, so be nice!"

"When am I not nice?!" Rose defended.

At that Lissa burst into giggles. "When are you nice?!"

The trio continued their night of pizza, candy, a movie and girl talk.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hi Guys_

 _Is there anybody (still) out there?_

 _So here's my latest chapter. I know I said it wouldn't take me a month to update and it took me a month anyway. So, no more promises… Except, this story will end eventually, it will not be forgotten and left hanging!_

 _It was a little less Romitri, and for that I'm sorry. I know I hate it when fics deviate from our favorite couple. But be sure they'll be back and they'll be steamy._

 _Please take the time to review. I_ am _a reviews whore after all._

 _Thanks,_

 _Kooki_


	14. Chapter 14 - Heel for heel, Toe for Toe

**_Chapter 14 - Heel for heel, Toe for toe_**

Rose and Dimitri had been training non stop for weeks. The more they trained the better Dimitri got. He moved as though he were made to hunt strigoi.

Sparring with Rose was the highlight of Dimitri's training. He endured the weights and and the running and the reflex exercises, all so he could get to the pinnacle of his day - sparring with Rose.

When they started out, Rose would take him down every time. Easily. After a couple of weeks, Dimitri took Rose down for the first time. That brought him more pride than he was willing to admit.

As his training furthered and his skills advanced, Dimitri learned how to read Rose's body and anticipate her moves. Soon, Rose had to mix it up just to keep him from handing her her ass.

But, inevitably, as their training progressed, Dimitri beat Rose more and more often.

Apart from the obvious merits of their daily training sessions, there was an additional bonus to their sparring. Rose and Dimitri workouts were always hot and sweaty and more often than not ended with a need for release.

Which was the case in the session today. After Rose got an elbow to the stomach, she kneed Dimitri thigh. They had been going at it for a while, both of them covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Neither was keeping score but they were fairly tied, for now. That is until Rose slammed Dimitri to the mats using her own body weight.

Straddling his hips, Rose practically groaned, "I want you so much right now".

Dimitri flipped them over, pinning Rose. "Me too", he emphasized this by pressing is bulge to her core.

Rose moaned. "Take me now".

"Here?" Dimitri questioned. They were in one of the smaller training rooms in the basement, and classes were in session upstairs, so the floor was pretty much theirs. Dimitri glanced to the entrance, "The door isn't even locked".

Rose grabbed him through his training shorts. "Right here. Right now". She left no room for argument.

Rose pulled Dimitri down to her with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She kissed him roughly, loving his weight on her. When Dimitri thrust his hips again, Rose pushed him back on his heels and turned her back to him.

Dimitri knew exactly what she wanted when Rose got on her knees and pulled her yoga pants and panties down to her mid thigh. He pushed his pants down just enough to pull out his already engorged package.

The particular training room Rose and Dimitri were currently occupying was small. It was also the one with mirror wall. So when Dimitri grabbed his cock in his hand and teased her folds with his tip, Rose saw everything in the reflection. It was one of the sexiest things she'd ever seen and only made her want him more.

She mewled. "Stop playing with me and fuck me already!" Rose demanded impatiently.

Their eyes locked in the reflection of the mirror wall. The twinkle in her eyes spoke volumes. Dimitri answered with an impish grin as he pushed himself into Rose's wanting crevasse. Without pause, he started a pace that was fast and furious. He had a firm grip on Rose's hips as he pumped into her from behind.

Rose loved watching Dimitri fuck her. Her moaning and and his grunting, along with the sound of their bodies grinding together, filled the room. It was like watching porn _while_ having sex. Only this porn was starring her and her Russian god. She felt disgustingly turned on and sexy and dirty and satisfied all at once.

"Harder!" she demanded.

So Dimitri thrust harder.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Harder!"

That's when Dimitri smacked Rose's ass. Hard. Maybe too hard. Dimitri froze.

So did Rose.

The room went quiet. Eerily so.

While their sex wouldn't be considered gentle, they'd never gone so far as a spanked bottom. Dimitri's hand just smacked Rose's perfect ass without a conscious thought on his part. Even if he had thought about it before, he'd never have deliberately done it, and certainly not that hard, without discussing it with her first.

After a pregnant pause, Rose spoke just above a whisper, "Don't stop". Dimitri was still frozen to the spot, so Rose wiggled her ass a little. "Dimitri, don't stop", she repeated.

Dimitri swallowed hard before he began to thrust again. This time gently.

"Harder", Rose said to Dimitri's reflection with a smirk.

Dimitri obliged. When his pace and his thrusts returned to what they were before, Rose murmured, "Do it again".

Dimitri didn't need any explanation on what _it_ was. In the spirit of Prince's Bride, which they watched a few days ago, he simply answered, "As you wish", and spanked her ass again.

"Oh, god", Rose quivered, though it wasn't as hard as before, it was pleasurable all the same.

Ever few thrusts, Dimitri added a light slap to the ass. Within a few minutes Rose was completely coming apart, screaming.

After seeing Rose cum in the mirror and the look of euphoria on her face, Dimitri let himself go, releasing in Rose with an orgasmic howl.

Barely able to hold himself up, Dimitri pulled out and put his piece away. He tenderly kissed Rose's now pinkish cheeks before rearranging her clothes as well. They lied on the mats, still panting.

"Well", Rose huffed, "That was different". She tried to hide her smile, covering her face with her hands.

Misunderstanding her, Dimitri was concerned maybe they'd taken it too far. Leaning up, he apologized, "I'm sorry Rose. I didn't mean to be that rough, I don't know what came over me".

Hearing the distress in his voice, Rose pulled her hands from her face. "Dimitri", she was a bit at a loss for words. Was she supposed to admit she like that? That is was amazing? How could she?

"Don't apologize", Rose decided Dimitri was more important than her own embarrassment. Besides, if she didn't tell him how much she like it, how the hell would he ever know to do it again? "Hey, look at me", she said when she realized Dimitri could barely make eye contact. Cupping his cheek, she continued. "Please don't be sorry. I actually really liked it, in case you couldn't tell by my screaming", she smile at him, making sure this was sinking in. "You don't have to be gentle with me. I'm not a porcelain doll, I won't break. I want you to lose yourself me, like I do with you. No holding back".

"I don't want to hurt you", Dimitri said despondently.

"I won't lie. That stung. But it was also incredible".

Dimitri looked surprised at her choice of words. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we should do that more often", she smile. "Not every time", Rose chuckled, "but that definitely wasn't a one-off thing".

"What if I take it too far?" Nothing scared Dimitri more than causing the woman he loved pain.

"Then I'll tell you", she reassured him. "And you'll listen. And if you don't listen, then I'll tell you mother. Maybe she can still kick your ass". Rose was laughing at her own joke.

And while it did lighten Dimitri's mood a bit, he was now upset for a whole other reason, "Why did you have to bring my Mama into this?!"

That only made Rose laugh harder. Despite himself, Dimitri laughed as well.

* * *

Rose had been on lock down for 8 whole weeks when Alberta called a general meeting. All teams were assembled, every slayer, every moroi, every human, in the branch was in attendance. Even Abe was there for some reason.

"Since there have been no signs of any unusual threat", Alberta was referring to Jeanine, "we are going back to business as usual. Of sorts. Rose will return to active duty with her team". Rose nearly did a back flip from joy.

"In addition, we are gaining 2 additional slayer". As soon as Alberta spoke those words, the room filled with gasps and whispers. Even Rose had no idea what this was about. Were the hell were they going to get 2 slayers?

"Olena Belikov has decided to retire as a guardian and return to the ranks of the sisterhood". There was as round of applause.

Dimitri had no idea Olena was even contemplating coming back to the sisterhood.

Rose sought out Abe's gaze, wondering if he was on board with losing his primary guardian. An answering wink mollified Rose's worry.

Alberta carried on when the room quieted again. "As for the additional slayer, I'd like to formally welcome Dimitri Belikov as a slayer to the sisterhood. Let's give him a warm welcome".

No one was more surprised than Dimitri. He'd been working his butt off but he was never given an indication when his training would be complete.

Rose clapped excitedly, their friends whooped and whistled.

When Alberta silenced the second round of applause. "As a novice slayer, Mr. Belikov will be joining Rose Hathaway's team to complete his field training. Thank you for you time, this meeting is adjourned".

Dimitri was overwhelmed by the news. He gripped Rose's hand for comfort. Usually he didn't mind being the center of attention. Not that he sought it out, he just didn't mind one way or another. But he wished he'd received _this_ news in a more private setting.

Slayers and other members of the sisterhood all made their way over to their newest member with congratulations and good lucks. The grip he had on Rose's hand tightened indicating to her that he wasn't letting go any time soon. Dimitri was in such a daze, he didn't realize he was being pulled away by the arm until he was in the elevator alone with a worried Rose.

"Breathe, Comrade".

Dimitri let out breath he didn't know he was holding till it left him in a loud whoosh. Before the elevator reached their floor, Dimitri asked, "So what happens now?"

"Now", Rose smirked, "we go hunting".

* * *

"Dimitri, relax", he heard Sydney in his earpiece over the roar of the crowd in the bar. "You're doing great. Just remember, you're backup tonight".

"Yeah, comrade", Rose chimed in. "You gotta trust us. If I need anything I'll holler".

They'd gone over the plan several times. It was hunting as usual. Rose as bait, Lissa and Sydney running surveillance from the van. The difference tonight was Dimitri was in the field backing up Rose, in case she needed it.

Since Rose was the bait, Dimitri and her needed to keep their distance. He was shocked at the number of men that hit on Rose so blatantly. Some of the lines they were feeding her, which he heard through the coms, were so horrible that the was surprised Rose hadn't punched anyone yet. They all disgusted him till he remembered he had hit on Rose at the bar in a nightclub not so long ago.

"Did I sound like those assholes?" Dimitri asked in the coms before he downed his shot. He did need to blend in, after all.

"Yes", Lissa and Syd teased in sync.

"Don't listen to them", Rose interjected. "You are nothing like those creeps". After a pause, she added, "Besides, you are hot as hell. I'd've jumped your bones even if you did sound like them".

"That's gross Rose!" Lissa chastised while Dimitri chuckled.

"Anyways", Rose continued, "comrade, haven't you noticed all the women who were trying to throw themselves at you?"

"What women?" Dimitri feigned innocent. He definitely noticed. He just chose to decline to all their advances politely.

"Alright, shut up", Syd warned, "or else people are going to think you're talking to yourselves".

Rose and Dimitri shut it but not before they exchanged a mischievous glance.

* * *

"I can't believe my first night out was a bust!" Dimitri grumbled in bed later that night.

"Hey, every night no one dies, I consider a success", Rose countered.

"I know. It's not that I'm looking for death or mayhem, but I've been working my butt off and just want to start doing some good".

Rose smiled knowingly. "You wanted to see some action".

"A little", he answered, a tad bit ashamed.

"I promise there will be plenty of other nights where we'll slay and fight and maim", Rose said soothingly. "But for tonight, you're not a fighter, you're a lover". She leaned in a kissed him.

Dimitri kissed back, and for the rest of the night he indeed proved to be a lover, not a fighter.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hi!_

 _That was my new chapter (finally), hope you guys like it!_

 _Leave a review if you did, or if you didn't that's cool too._

 _Despite the fact that it's taking me forever and a half between updates, I'm thinking there're probably going to be 3-4 more chapters to go._

 _If you liked the chapter, don't forget to follow and favorite!_

 _That is all, my lovelies. I thank anyone who's still sticking with me!_

 _Much love,_

 _K_


	15. Chapter 15 - Team Dimitri

**_Chapter 15 - Team Dimitri _**

For a whole month, Dimitri went out hunting with Rose's team. He had become a regular fixture, Rose's second and a damn good slayer. The nights that followed his initial outing, were a complete contrast to that first night. They'd come across at least one strigoi on every hunt.

At the time, Dimitri just thought it was his "good luck". But he quickly found out that other teams within the sisterhood were also encountering more and more strigoi. The number of slays in the last month alone topped the average number of _sightings_ in a _year_. Something was up.

Not all slayers had as much luck as Rose and Dimitri. It seemed like they were burying a slayer every few days. In light of this, Alberta called Dimitri into her office to inform him that he'd be getting his own team. While this was a promotion, he was disheartened at the thought of being separated from Rose.

"Think about it this way", Rose said when Dimitri was telling her about the new situation, "we'll have something to look forward to when we get in from the hunt every night". She was desperately trying to console Dimitri. And herself. She didn't _need_ him in the field, she was a badass all on her own and her team got by without him for years before he came along. But she did like having him watch her back.

Dimitri gave a small answering smile. He knew Rose well and he didn't want to add to her grief with his own sour mood.

"So who are your additional teammates?" she asked.

"Christian and Adrian".

Rose barked out a laugh.

"What's so funny?!"

"Nothing", Rose smirked. "It's just I can't remember if the sisterhood has ever had an all male team". She pause. "That and, well, it's Christian and Adrian. They're not really field agents".

"Alberta told me they were both trained", Dimitri almost pouted.

"They are. But they don't do field work. They've been liaising with Court and her highness for the past year. On the other hand," Rose wanted to be optimistic, "between the two of them, you'll have a fire user who is an expert in weapons and a spirit user who's a healer and a computer genius. Plus you guys already know each other since we hang out all the time."

He nodded. "I do trust them. And I've actually really enjoyed their company over the past couple of months. It's just", Dimitri cut himself off.

"Just what?"

"I'll worry about you when I'm not there".

Rose chuckled and shook her head. "Just ask Chris and Adrian how they deal when Lissa and Syd are out there with me".

That ended their conversation. Dimitri would never not worry about Rose. But he needed to trust her to handle herself, like she always had before he knew he was a dhampir, before he knew about strigoi and moroi, before he know about the sisterhood.

* * *

Dimitri's team went out on the hunt the night after Alberta appointed him team leader. While they didn't encounter any strigoi, they did come across 2 muggers and one sexual predator. All of which were set on the nearest police station's doorstep with confessions pinned to their chests.

Dimitri climbed into an already warm bed with Rose several hours after day break. The blackout curtains were drawn closed, yet Dimitri could easily make out Rose's figure beneath the covers.

"Hi comrade", Rose murmured as she laid her head on Dimitri's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. "You were out really late".

Dimitri kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Roza. I didn't mean to wake you. We really wanted to be out as long as we could, but we didn't run into any strigoi".

Rose kissed his bare chest as Dimitri stroked her hair. "It's okay, you didn't wake me". She yawned. "Did you like working with Christian and Adrian?"

Dimitri smiled. "Yeah I did".

"Good", she murmured.

"Go to sleep, Roza", Dimitri's smile grew as Rose mumbled something incoherent and fell right to sleep.

* * *

"Alright", Adrian clapped his hands together. "Take two".

It was the second night Dimitri and his team were going out hunting. Since more and more strigoi were making appearances throughout the city, it was decided to send all teams out every night.

Dimitri and Rose's teams had congregated around 2 vans in the garage.

"I can't believe how pleased you are with yourself now that Alberta finally assigned you to field work", Sydney shook her head in exasperation at he boyfriend.

Adrian pulled Sydney into his arm. Sydney pulled him down to her, angling his ear to her lips. "Please, don't do anything stupid, Adrian", she whispered. "Like get dead. Or worse".

"Don't worry Sage", Adrian smirked. "The big guy'll have my back", he winked. "Besides, I probably won't even leave the van".

"Can we please get this show on the road?" Rose rolled her eyes at her friends' touchy feely.

Sydney and Adrian broke apart and each went to his or her own van. Chris and Lissa bid each other a quiet farewell too.

Before Rose climbed into the passenger seat beside Syd, Dimitri suddenly pulled her to him by the arm and planted a fierce kiss square on her lips.

"What was that for?" Rose asked a little breathless.

"I have a bad feeling about tonight. So just be careful", Dimitri whispered.

Rose nodded soundlessly.

Rose headed out with her team. And Dimitri with his.

* * *

Oddly enough, both teams returned to the garage after a successful night of slaying.

"Dimitri, your shirt is covered in blood!" Lissa shrieked. "Is it yours?" She immediately put her hand on him, to heal any injuries he may have sustained.

Dimitri gently pulled her hands from him, "Most of it isn't my blood, Lissa. And Adrian already healed me".

Lissa looked a bit skeptical. Dimitri's aura was tinged with a bit of deception. There was more than he was letting on. She suspected that most of the blood was in fact Dimitri's, and while Adrian could heal wounds, he'd never healed a wound so massive it would cause that much blood loss. Plus the massive amount of blood Dimitri lost should have hindered him at least a bit. Blood loss was not something that spirit could heal. Add to that that Adrian was avoiding eye contact, and Lissa was sure something fishy was going on.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked Dimitri, trying to keep her worry at bay. Especially considering she heard everything that was going on in Lissa's head.

Dimitri finally made eye contact for the briefest of moments. "I'm fine", he answered, "It was just a small cut that I didn't even want Adrian to heal, but he insisted. Most of this blood belongs the strigoi I staked".

Now Rose and Lissa were even more suspicious with Dimitri outright lying.

"Come on", Rose tugged on Dimitri's arm towards the elevator. "You guys can fill out the reports tomorrow. Let's get you out of those clothes".

"That's a great idea", Adrian agreed and was first in the elevator. He was also first out, with a worried Sydney in tow. She hated not filling out reports, but she needed to talk to Adrian. She didn't need to see his aura to know something was wrong.

As soon as the door to their unit clicked shut Sydney whirled on Adrian. "What the hell happened tonight, Adrian?"

Adrian ran his hand roughly through his hair and huffed out a breath. "Something… _weird_. And coming from me, that says a lot".

"Tell me".

"Dimitri went up against 2 strigoi. Both ancients. He got hurt pretty badly but he still managed to take them both out, with a little help in the form of a fireball from Christian". Adrian cleared his throat a bit. "After he staked them, Dimitri passed out. He lost so much blood. He had a huge gash across his chest. And I was freaking out. I knew I couldn't heal him. I'm not strong enough to heal something like that. But I had to at least try".

Sydney wrapped her arms around him. "You're shaking".

"I've never believed the prophecy. Even after everything I've seen. But tonight…" Adrian swallowed hard. "I put my hands on his chest and I tried to heal him. And I felt it start to work, but it wasn't fast enough. He was losing more and more blood and the wound was only just closing. His heart was slowing down and then…".

"And then?" Sydney urged him to continue.

"And then the wound closed. Almost completely on it's own. I hardly used any spirit. And then Dimitri took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He got up as if he'd only been scratched. It's like a little bit of spirit triggered his own healing".

Sydney nodded. "But why are you so shaken up? You've seen magic before. Miracles too."

"Well, at first, he had no idea what happened. When I told him, it was like he didn't _want_ to believe me. I mean, his healing was fast, like strigoi fast. And now I don't know what I'm supposed to do. What the hell am I supposed to write in my report?"

Sydney steered Adrian towards their ensuite. "For now, we shower, we sleep and tomorrow, we try talking to Dimitri about what happened. Hopefully, he'll be more inclined to discuss things after a good night's sleep".

"Maybe", Adrian murmured.

* * *

"Dimitri", Rose whispered later in bed, tangled with Dimitri in the sheets. "I know you're awake".

"Mhhh", he grumbled.

"Talk to me", Rose trailed her fingernails back and forth over his pecs. "What happened tonight?".

Dimitri's silence was staggering.

"You don't talk to me, you throw me down on the bed as soon as we get to the here. Don't get me wrong, the sex was fantastic, but you and I both know you're just procrastinating. So, what's up?".

Dimitri sat up abruptly, abandoning Rose in the sheets. He rubbed his palm across his torso where the strigoi slashed a gaping hole in his chest. A hole that was no longer there.

"I got hurt. I killed 2 strigoi. Adrian healed me. End of story".

"You forget I can tell when you're lying". Rose smirked behind his back.

"Alright, fine!" there was a bit more bight to his voice than he intended. "I was hurt so bad, that I was sure I was going to die. I'm a doctor, I know what a fatal wound looks like. And now I know what it feels like too".

Now Rose was the one that was shaken. She didn't realize how badly Dimitri was injured and it freaked her out. But for now, she needed to keep her mouth shut.

"What happened next?"

"An existential crisis", Dimitri answered, just above a whisper. "I may or may not have seen my life flash before my eyes". Dimitri turned to meet Rose's gaze. "All I could think about was you. How I couldn't let those strigoi get away because you would be in danger. How I couldn't leave you".

It was now dawning on Rose that these were in fact Dimitri's first solo kills. That must have been taking a toll on him as well.

"Then Christian threw a fireball at one of them. So I got up, and I sleighed them", Dimitri continued. "And then I collapsed. When I opened my eyes I thought I was dead. Until I saw Adrian".

"He healed you?"

Dimitri shook his head. "He said he didn't heal me enough to fix all the damage the strigoi did".

"Then what or who healed you?"

"Me", he answered broken.

And now Rose got what had Dimitri so shaken. "Come lay back down. We'll figure it out in the morning, together, okay?"

Dimitri nodded mutely and laid back in Rose's open arms.

"Everything's going to alright", she lulled him till he fell asleep.

* * *

The following morning, the teams met up for breakfast and a much needed pow-wow. Since they wanted a bit more discretion than the communal kitchen, they headed out to the dinner around the corner. It was after dark out but a group consisting of 2 slayers, 2 healers, a fire user and a witch, hardly had anything to worry about.

They were however, on a deadline. They needed to be in HQ and finish filling out their reports before they were deployed on another hunt. But in order to fill in their reports Dimitri, Adrian and Christian needed to get their story worked out.

"We can go with what we told you guys last night", Christian suggested. "Dimitri got hurt on the job, sleighed the strigoi, then Adrian healed him".

"It is plausible and very close to the truth", Lissa offered.

"But I still need know what happened", Dimitri added.

"Yes", Sydney said, "and I have an idea about that. You've had cuts and scrapes in the past". Dimitri nodded. "Have you had any extreme healing abilities?"

"No".

Syd pulled out a small pocket knife. "Give me your hand, Dimitri".

Dimitri did as he was told.

"Do you trust me?" Sydney asked.

Dimitri nodded and Syd slashed his palm. "I want to see how long it takes the wound to close", she explained.

After 3 minutes, the wound stopped bleeding. A normal dhampir response to an injury. "Nothing special", Rose said.

"Right", Sydney agreed and proceeded to cut Dimitri's palm again.

"Ow!" Dimitri wailed as the blood started flowing again.

"Don't be such a baby", Sydney remarked. "Adrian, please heal Dimitri's hand".

Adrian took Dimitri's hand in his and let the spirit magic starts to flow. The cut healed immediately.

Lissa looked from Dimitri to Adrian. "That was…"

Adrian interjected, "I know, right?"

"What just happened?" Rose asked, as Sydney and Christian watched slacked jawed.

"Adrian hardly used any spirit", Lissa answered. She took Dimitri's hand in her own to examine it. "That much spirit couldn't have healed a paper cut, much less a cut that deep".

"Let's do it again", Rose suggested. "What?" she shrugged at Dimitri's questioning gaze. "And this time, Lissa will do the healing".

"Excellent idea, Rose!" Syd exclaimed. "That way we'll know if it's Adrian who's packing the extra spirit punch or if we've found another one of Dimitri's abilities".

Rose was half offended. "Don't look so surprised".

"But Lissa already healed me once", Dimitri pointed out.

"I did", Liss agreed, "but it wasn't an external injury. I couldn't see the damage, just feel it as it was being healed. So I don't know if the amount of spirit I used fit the amount of damage it fixed".

Dimitri threw his hands up. "Fine, let's cut me again".

They repeated the experiment and had the same result.

"I might have a theory, but I need to run some tests", Sydney stated, "On your blood", she added. "I'd need to convince Alberta to give me a day in the lab and not in the van. Plus I'd need a spirit user".

Rose smirked. "Great. You and Lissa can stay and do lab work while I go out hunting with the boys! I'm sure I can persuade Alberta".

* * *

Alberta didn't need much convincing. She granted Sydney and Lissa the time to research in the lab, and sent Rose and Dimitri out with Adrian and Chris.

On this hunt, Rose and Dimitri decided to try a different tactic. They went to the worst part of town and started "drunkenly" traipsing in back alleys, zigging and zagging, stumbling and laughing. They were hoping to get some unwanted attention of strigoi.

Turns out this tactic was pretty good. Maybe too good.

They came across what can only be described as a gang of strigoi. They found themselves boxed in alley. Nothing but darkness and strigoi all around, 3 ahead of them and 2 behind. It was apparent by they way the strigoi attacked, they weren't very coordinated or experienced.

The first strigoi struck out against Rose, thinking she was the bigger threat. He wasn't expecting Dimitri to intercept and stake him without pause.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Really comrade?"

"I had a chance for a direct hit. I took it", Dimitri shrugged and engaged the strigoi standing closest to him. Dimitri was so fast that the strigoi didn't even have a chance to react.

By the now, the remaining strigoi were rattled. Rose spun to the strigoi behind them so she and Dimitri were back to back. She lashed out at the approaching strigoi and without much difficulty, she too, staked a strigoi. "You can't have all the fun", Rose quipped to Dimitri.

They'd manage to even out the playing field, now it was 2 against 2. The strigoi started laughing. "Good", one said, "Now there more for us", he laughed.

These strigoi were older and stronger. Since the odds were even, Rose and Dimitri each had a strigoi to face.

Rose kicked the strigoi in the shin and punched her in the gut. The strigoi recovered quickly with a savage blow to Rose's head. Rose was disoriented to a moment before she lunged for the strigoi and slammed her against the wall.

Dimitri had dispatched his opponent with little difficulty and turned to Rose in time to watch her stake her would be attacker.

Dimitri did a sweep of the alley, just to make sure the threat was taken care of and that there weren't any more strigoi lurking. Turning back to Rose, he noticed she was hurt. "Roza, you're bleeding".

Rose brushed him off, "It's just a scratch".

"Um, guys", Christian came in on the coms. "Great job and all, but we need to head back to HQ. They're calling in all teams. Adrian is going to meet you in the alley to take care of the bodies".

"Does that happen often?" Dimitri asked. "Calling everyone in? In the middle of the night?"

"No", Adrian answered as he reached them. "This has never happened before, as far as I know".

Rose nodded in agreement. "This must be big".

Adrian dealt with the bodies with one of Sydney's alchemist concoctions while Dimitri tried futilely to tend to Rose's injury, then the team made their way back to HQ.

While they made it back safely, the same could not be said for all teams.

Which might explain why all teams were called into an emergency meeting in the middle of a hunt.

Rose and Dimitri, along with Adrian and Christian, quickly found Lissa and Sydney in the crowd. Lissa hugged Chris and Rose. Sydney ran to Adrian. HQ was buzzing with reports of casualties before everyone was called in, obviously set Lissa and Sydney on edge fearing for their friends.

"What the hell is going on?" Dimitri asked loudly as HQ was literally swarming with activity.

"Something big", Rose answered, "if it's all hands and everyone is loading up on weapons".

"So you don't know either?" Dimitri raised his eyebrow.

"Nope". She couldn't help the eerily feeling in the pit of her stomach that this whole scene was somehow familiar to her.

"Alright, people, listen up", Alberta commanded the room. "We have a situation. We got hit pretty hard tonight. We lost 3 slayers", Alberta let the room quiet down before continuing. She raised her hands to silence everyone. "A slayer and her team were taken".

Years ago, before Rose's mother was taken, before they found out she had been turned, this would have been unthinkable. Now it was just the harsh reality of a slayer's life. Still Rose felt a pang in her chest as she suddenly realized why the scene was so familiar. When Jeanine went MIA, a meeting much like this one was called.

Dimitri scanned the room, trying to figure out which team was the missing team. But the truth was so many had fallen in the past few nights, including this night, that he couldn't be sure who was taken and who was gone.

"We have been called out to war", Alberta stated.

Now everyone was puzzled.

"They strigoi have been organized by a new leader. They have been systematically testing our weaknesses and have been cataloging our manpower and our protocols. They know how were operate. Their numbers are much higher than we ever thought and now they have a new mission - taking control of this city".

The room was stunned silent.  
"I fear that they will attack the sisterhood. So I have decided to evacuate and send all the younglings into hiding. Their location will not be disclosed for fear of it getting into the wrong hands".

Everyone knew exactly what that meant. Alberta didn't want to tell anyone that wasn't necessary for fear they would be turned and the information would be in the hands of the strigoi.

"That's all, everyone help the young ones prepare for evacuation". Alberta ended the meeting and proceeded to call Rose and Dimitri to her office.

"Close the door", Alberta instructed. "Take a seat".

Rose swallowed hard. This couldn't be good. "Who was taken?", she asked.

Alberta looked from Dimitri to Rose, then back to Dimitri. "Olena was taken with her team".

Dimitri's hands tightened on the arms of the chair he was occupying. The wood was beginning to splinter.

"That's not all", Alberta pinched the bridge of her nose before meeting Rose's gaze.

But Rose already suspected what Alberta was going to say.

"Rose, it's Jeanine", Alberta said, "Jeanine is the one behind this".

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _This chapter is dedicated to my good friend - Leslie!_

 _Happy birthday babe!_

 _I know I suck, but this chapter is longer than I intended - just for you!_

 _BTW, all the readers can also thank her because in truth, the number of updates would be down even more without her! Shocking, I know, since I hardly update as it is…_

 _Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads, follows and reviews! Truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you for sticking around._

 _Let's all hope this story will be done_ this _year…_

 _Once again, Happy B-day, love!_

 _K_


	16. Chapter 16 - Twelve Percent of a Plan

**_Chapter 16 - Twelve Percent of a Plan_**

Despite already guessing what Alberta was going to say, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Rose felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her feet, she was falling.

Having heard that Olena had been taken shook Dimitri to his core. Knowing it was Jeanine's doing only made things worse. He knew in his heart that in order to save his mother, he'd have to slay Roza's mother.

"Rose, breathe", Alberta instructed. She was the first one who realized just how bad a place Rose was in, even before Rose herself.

Rose nodded and took a deep breath which did nothing to calm her. "What's the plan?", she asked.

"To get the younglings to safety", Alberta answered simply.

"What about Olena? What about Leslie and Beth?" Rose asked semi shocked.

Alberta's answering silence said it all.

"This is ridiculous!" Rose cried out. "We can't just leave them there! We have to do something!".

Alberta crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. "We're not doing anything. We have our orders. The sisterhood has decided".

"I don't give a shit what those pertinacious assholes on the sisterhood council decided! We have to find out where they are, we have to go get them!"

While Rose was very openly a storm of emotions, Dimitri's storm brew internally. He had remained silent letting the scenario unfold. He needed more information and the best way to get that at times was to remain calm and quiet.

"Even if I wanted to send a team after them", Alberta said, "I can't! My hands are tied and I need everyone here to protect-"

Rose cut off Alberta when she slammed her hands down on the desk. "That's bullshit!"

At this point Dimitri decided it was time to intervene. He gently grabbed Rose by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Come on, Roza. The little ones need our help". He said it so gently and so calmly that Rose knew something was up, so she allowed herself to be coaxed out of Alberta's office.

Dimitri lead Rose through HQ and down the 2 flights to Sydney's lab, where Adrian and Sydney, along with Lissa and Christian, had gathered.

"What is this?" Rose asked, looking around the lab. She didn't know what Dimitri had in mind when he pulled her out of Alberta's office, but this certainly wasn't it.

"Adrian has news on my… Olena", Dimitri answered.

"And you know this how?" Rose placed her hands on her hips.

"I told him", Adrian replied. "I was counting on his hearing being… superior. And that he was listening. I called him from the armory, just below Petrov's office and he heard it!" Adrian was as happy as a pig in shit that his half-brained scheme actually worked.

"So you just knew to pay attention?" Rose was still unsure how to handle this.

"Sometimes it pays off to shut up and listen", Dimitri smirked.

"What's the news?" Rose asked Adrian.

He replied, "I hacked Alberta's terminal-"

"You hacked the Director's terminal?!" surprisingly, it was Rose who was outraged.

"So not the point right now, little slayer!" Adrain defended. "Apparently, Jeanine has called you out, Rose. She sent the sisterhood the location she claims Olena, Leslie and Beth are being held. Apparently, Jeanine proposed a trade". Adrian looked from Rose to Dimitri, to all the other current occupants of the lab and back again. He lingered on Dimitri a little longer than the rest before he met Rose's gaze again. "Jeanine wants you in exchange for the other slayers".

"Absolutely not", Dimitri said adamantly.

Completely ignoring him, Rose address Adrian, "You're telling me Alberta has intel on the whereabouts of 3 captive slayers and she chose to keep me in the dark? Was this even a council decision or did Alberta do this all on her own?"

When Adrian didn't answer, Rose knew it was all Alberta.

"Rose", Lissa tried to sooth, "You know Alberta promised your mother she'd always look after you. This is her, keeping her promise. She loves you like her own. Besides, you know sisterhood policy, she can't trade your life for theirs any more than she could trade their lives for yours". She may have been using a little spirit to help Rose see reason.

"Where are they being held?" Dimitri asked.

"A warehouse downtown", Christian answered as he was pulling up the maps on the iPad. "But we don't know if they're really there, or if they're alive and even if they are it's still probably just a trap".

Dimitri took the iPad and studied the map. "It's pretty isolated, not much around. I can go scout the place"

Rose was already shaking her head. "No".

"I can determine if there are three heartbeats in there-"

"I said no", Rose was frosty cutting Dimitri off.

"I don't take orders from you", Dimitri said emotionlessly, but quickly changed his tune to one of pleading. "Hear me out. I can gather intel so we'll at least know if they're alive and being held there".

"There is no way in hell that I'm letting you go alone. And do you honestly think I believe this "just scouting" cockamamy?" Rose used air quotes. "I know you better than that".

"Fine", Dimitri conceded. "Any volunteers?" he asked the room.

Rose scoffed. "Me". _duh_ , she thought.

"No, not you", Dimitri replied. "You are the target therefore you can't be part of the rescue mission".

"Oh, so this is a rescue mission now? What happened to scouting?" Rose asked knowingly.

"We both know that was a crock", Dimitri said flippantly.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Anyone else feel like volunteering?" Dimitri asked again.

Adrian and Chris nodded. "Yeah, we're your team, man. We're going with you".

Lissa and Sydney shared a look. They're lives were in danger every day. What they did was deadly. But this seemed like a suicide mission more than a rescue mission.

"Good, it settled", Dimitri declared. "We'll go as soon as it's daylight. Let's gear up. Christian, I assume you can get your hands on a van, under the radar".

Chris smirked, "Of course".

Dimitri, Chris and Adrian departed immediately after that, leaving Rose, Lissa and Sydney in the lab.

"Show of hands, who else think this idea is ridiculous?" Rose asked.

Both Lissa and Sydney raised their hands.

"Obviously we're going too", Sydney said timidly. "Right?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely", was Rose's colorful answer.

"But Rose", Lissa was suddenly getting cold feet. It wasn't her own life that worried her. it was Rose's. "Should you really be going? I mean Jeanine targeted Olena to get to you. She wants you. Wouldn't it be best if you stayed behind?"

"Don't be absurd", Rose waved her off before catching a glimpse of Lissa's moist eyes. "I'll be fine. We're all going to be fine, yeah?"

Lissa nodded and the three start to hatch their own plan.

* * *

Rose and her team knew they'd never be able to sneak another van out of the garage without raising suspicion, so they decided to take a taxi. Good thing all the vans had GPS trackers. Plus Sydney was smart enough to turn the tracker back on remotely in the van the guys took after Adrian had disengaged it. So they knew the exact location of the van. The trio asked the taxi driver to drop them off a block away from where they guys were parked. He looked at the bunch as though they were crazy, yet he wasn't able to convince them to select a different destination.

Not long after Dimitri's team parked near the abandoned warehouse, Rose showed up with her team.

"Are you crazy?" Christian hissed when he saw his girlfriend along with Rose and Sydney. "Dimitri will go apeshit when he finds out you're here", he directed his annoyance at Rose. Apparently Dimitri had gone to do a little reconnaissance before finalizing their plan of attack.

"I don't care. I'm not sitting on the sidelines!" Rose whisper-hollered. "And it's daylight now anyway!"

"It's daylight and you just gave away our element of surprise", Dimitri snuck up behind Rose, startling her. "If I heard you coming, there's a good chance _they_ did too" he pointed at the warehouse.

"That's not important now", Adrian scolded, putting a stop to all the bickering. It wouldn't change anything and the strigoi most likely heard the van approach anyway. "What did you find out, D?"

Dimitri relayed the intel, "I can hear 3 distinct heartbeat. But there's no way to be sure who they belong to. All the windows are blacked out, so I don't know how many strigoi are in there either. I don't even know if Jeanine's in there".

"Dimitri, do you know where the hostages are being held?" Sydney asked.

"Assuming the heartbeats I heard really belong to our slayers, they're located at somewhere in the north east corner of the building".

"What's the plan then?" Lissa asked.

Dimitri smirked and opened the back door of the van as if that was an answer. When he popped the door he revealed no less than 10 automatic rifles and small create full of ammunition.

"Where the fuck did you get that?", everyone turned to stare at Lissa who never swore.

"A while back", Dimitri started, "I saved this kid's life. He had a GSW to the leg, nearly tore his femoral artery. He was barely hanging on. Anyway, that kid's father happened to be a major crime boss in the city. He said that he owed me a favor. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I was just going my job. Anyway, this is me cashing in the favor. The guy didn't even ask any questions!"

"Why would you even need this? Guns don't kill strigoi", Rose stated half heartedly.

"You're right", Dimitri supplied. "Guns won't kill strigoi, but it'll certainly slow them down. I'd like to see a strigoi try to run from the fire theses bad boys can rain down".

Rose looked at the guys. "That's it? This was your plan?!"

Dimitri shrugged.

"That's not a plan!" Rose chided. "That's barely a pl…".

"It's twelve percent of a plan", Dimitri defended.

When Rose finished rolling her eyes she Rose asked for the schematics of the warehouse; she needed to know the layout of the building.

The warehouse was just a plain old building. It used to be a packing warehouse, but it was cleared out it the late nineties when a low budget horror movie was filmed there. After that, the place was just abandoned.

The warehouse was 2 stories high and was packed with windows, all of which were boarded up on the first floor and blacked out on the second floor. There were multiple entrances - the main front entrance and a back entrance; there was a large bay entrance for trucks and vans on the west side of the building, with a corresponding exit just across it. Only part of the warehouse actually had a second story inside, along the outer walls of the building. The rest of the warehouse was open like a huge 2 story high space.

"Hey Sage", Rose asked with a twinkle in her eye. The twinkle of an idea, "You think the van can ram through that boarded up entrance?" Rose pointed to the main truck entrance.

Sydney looked pensively at the warehouse for a fraction. "It looks boarded up with old rotting wood, so unless they added reinforcements, the van should be able to ram through it".

"Okay, that entrance is far enough away from the north east entrance so that when we drive the van through, we won't risk hurting Olena or the others", Rose said.

"And then what?"

Rose glimpsed at the guns. "And then we blow out the top windows and get some sunlight in there".

"So we ram the door in with the van, UV light blazing and spray the top windows with the M-16's", Sydney guessed, as did the others. Their best protection for the van was the UV lights system mounted on the roof that gave it a sort of halo of light. It was the same UV lights system that Sydney used when she saved Dimitri and Rose from the ancient in the alley on Dimitri's first night out, when he first got to the sisterhood.

"Right", Rose answered. "We go in hot, grab our slayers and ram our way out the other side through the east entrance, into the daylight".

"But we still don't know how many of them are in there", Sydney rebuked.

"Yeah, and how do we grab our slayers once we're inside?", Chris asked.

"Alright I know this isn't ideal-"

Christian murmured, "Still better than what we had before".

"But", Rose continued, "I believe we can do this".

"How can you be so sure?" Lissa didn't want to seem nervous about the plan. She didn't want anyone to think she didn't have faith in them. But she couldn't help it. Now, more than any other time, there was only uncertainty as to who would make it home.

Rose smirked. "Because nothing like this has ever been tried before. They won't see _us_ coming. They won't see _him_ coming". She gestured confidently to Dimitri.

"Rose", Dimitri shook his head. "What if you believe I'm something I'm not?"

For the first time since Olena was taken, Rose saw Dimitri falter. She palmed his cheek and smiled. "I believe you're Dimitri fucking Belikov. And with or without the prophecy, you have more power and speed than any of us. You are dedicated and determined. You got through years worth of training in months. You were built to protect. Face it, babe, you're a badass".

The others ignored Rose and Dimitri's moment. "It's one thing for me to risk my life, but I can't ask you to risk yours".

"You didn't ask me. And you're out of your mind if you think you can keep me away from this", Rose didn't waiver. "I _need_ to do this. For meyself. For you. For my mother.".

In that moment, Dimitri knew that only one Hathaway was leaving that warehouse in tact.

Dimitri nodded and turned back to both waiting teams. "Let's do this!".

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!_

 _Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them! I've been really naughty and not responding and for that I'm sorry!_

 _I'm thankful to all the readers who are still with me and are going to stick around to the end (which will be soon)._

 _On a personal note, it's been a rough month for me work-wise. The company I worked at was bought out and only a third of the employees received new employment contracts from the acquiring company (as apposed to just getting fired). I received a new contract (and took the offer), but that didn't make the whole thing any less painful. We were all really tight knit and the company shutting down hit everyone really hard. Colleagues who were there for the last days to close up shop sent out pics of empty offices and the logo being take off the wall. Anyway, the whole thing was really sad on top of that, some good friends lost their jobs._

 _(Not, an excuse, just wanted to put that out there)._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next one won't be too far off._

 _XOXO_

 _Kooki_


	17. Chapter 17 - Battle Royale

_A/N:_

 _Surprise! I bet you didn't see that coming ;P_

 _Well with the story nearing it's end, I got into a frenzy of writing._

 _Of course, the sick day I took helped. What does that say about my work ethic? But FR, everyone was sick! Both my boys and me!_

 _I'll take this opportunity to thank all my readers and especially my reviewers! you guys rock!_

 _Anyway, enjoy! and don't forget to let me know what you thought!_

 _Love_

 _PK_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 17 - Battle Royale_**

Sydney drove while Lissa, rode shot gun. Adrian and Christian were planted on the van roof, laying low, ready to man the guns. Dimitri and Rose were in the back, pumped for action, packing as much silver as they could carry.

"Punch it, Sydney!" Rose ordered from her position by the back door.

The van barreled forward and crashed through the warehouse barricades in thunderous glory, UV lights blazing. Immediately Adrian aimed for the windows and Chris laid down cover, blasting anything that moved that didn't have a pulse.

Sydney, once inside accelerated towards the north east corner of the building to where Olena and the girls were presumably being held. Lissa repositioned herself in order to give the guys more ammo when they needed to reload. When Adrian shot out enough windows, the warehouse was partly lit. That held most strigoi at bay. And there were _many_ strigoi. But only the van was surrounded by light, while the path to the northeast corner and the captives - not so much.

Dimitri and Rose leapt from the van. Adrian and Chris continued to keep the van safe and give Dimitri and Rose cover fire.

The first strigoi who attacked was bold, fighting dangerously close to the sunlight. It didn't take much effort for Rose to push him into the pool of light and hold him there until he burnt to a crisp.

From then on, it was a flurry of chaos. Dimitri and Rose pushed through a sarong of strigoi. Dimitri was amazing. He was so fast and strong that he hardly fought any strigoi, he went straight for the slay, staking them through the heart without much fuss. It was in part due to the fact that these strigoi were young. It seems Jeanine had built herself an army of sorts. These strigoi were just canon fodder, or slayer fodder as it were.

The young ones dealt with easily, made way for the older stronger strigoi. But that didn't matter. Rose and Dimitri were in the zone. Since the strigoi had never encounter a male slayer, they naturally assumed that Rose was the bigger threat. She took more hits than Dimitri but she was still going strong. Of course it didn't hurt that Adrian and Chris were distracting the strigoi with gunfire. Sure the bullets didn't kill strigoi, but they did sting.

The strigoi body count was rising, but Rose and Dimitri were no closer to the captured slayers.

In a calculated move, Sydney pushed the van forward to shine more UV light into the direction of the North East corner of the warehouse. That held some strigoi back, and that also burned some strigoi badly enough to decommission them at least for a little while.

With the UV and gunfire distracting the strigoi, and Dimitri holding them off even more, Rose was able to maneuver her way into the corner room.

"Rose, darling", Jeanine cackled, "so good of you to join us".

Jeanine did indeed have the 3 captive slayers, on their knees, hands bound behind their back, gagged. They were looking worse for wear, but at least they were still alive. Barely. Save for Jeanine, Olena, Lesly and Beth, the room was empty. So Jeanine didn't have any immediate backup, Rose concluded.

"I'm here. Now let them go", Rose gestured to the slayer.

Jeanine laughed. "No. The instructions were for you to come alone or they die. Now they will _all_ die, including your little boy toy out there".

That enraged Olena as much as it did Rose. But both women had to be strong and not let their emotions get the better of them.

"You have me. You don't need them", Rose insisted.

"Yes, mother and daughter, together again", Jeanine smiled evilly.

With that, Rose lunged for mother. But Jeanine was faster and knew most of her daughter's moves, having trained her and being a slayer herself.

Olena pushed Lesly and Beth out of the way of the fight.

Outside, Dimitri was taking on more strigoi. He kicked one in the shin and knocked him off his feet; he punched another right in the nose. He staked left and right and continued to wreak havoc on his enemies.

Rose, on the other hand, was not doing as well. She had already suffered several blows before she engaged Jeanine. Rose threw a punch, Jeanine blocked. Jeanine sent out a kick, Rose took a hit to the ribs. Jeanine slapped Rose across the face with the back of her hand, spurting blood from Rose's lip.

But Rose wasn't done yet. She blocked the next hit from Jeanine and landed an uppercut

under Jeanine's chin, sending her back. Rose dished out a roundhouse kick, landing

squarely in Jeanine's gut. She followed through with another blow to the head. That didn't deter Jeanine who came back with an onslaught of hits, punches, kicks and even a headbutt. Their fight was grueling, neither would give up. But now Jeanine had the upper hand.

During the ruckus, Olena managed to push the other slayers to their feet and urged them out of the office. While Jeanine was otherwise occupied Olena had untied her hands and the hands of her teammates. Beth had to support Lesly and practically drag her out of there. Once outside Olena put both girls behind her and tried to steer them towards the light, towards the van.

Adrian and Christian stopped firing. They were running low on ammo and they didn't want to hit the slayers.

A strigoi pounced on Olena. She pushed the girls into the light as she herself was taken down. Dimitri wouldn't allow that. She was after all his mother. Even if she wasn't, he came here to save the slayers. It wasn't in him to leave anyone for dead. He rammed his stake into a strigoi that he's been fighting and ran towards his mother. He pulled the strigoi off his mother with such force that the strigoi flew back and made a sizable dent in the wall. Instead of helping Olena to her feet, he lifted her by the back of her coat and gently launched her into the halo of light before another strigoi slammed into him.

By now, Christian had removed himself from the van's roof and was on the ground to help the slayers into the vehicle. With Lesly and Beth inside safely, Christian helped the older slayer to her feet, handing her a stake and a gun.

"What are you doing?!" Olena yelled at him.

"Saving you?" it was more of a question from Christian.

Olena rolled her eyes. "Why aren't you shooting out the glass ceiling?", she took cover in the van.

Adrian and Christian looked eyes for a split second, the same question going through their minds - _how the fuck did we miss that?_ Instantly they knew what to do. Chris jumped into the van from the ground while Adrian jumped in from atop it. Wordlessly they aimed towards the heavens and shot out the ceiling flooding the entire warehouse with sunlight. The strigoi scattered to the corner that were still dark. But the meek darkness wouldn't save them for long.

In the van, Lissa wanted to heal the injured slayers. It was Olena who stopped her. "You need to save your strength for something more fatal. We will be fine". She and Beth had already started patching Lesly up.

"Dimitri!" Sydney yell from the van. "We need to go! Where is Rose?!"

Dimitri was still in the shade and dispatching the last of the strigoi that had not run to hide.

"Oh God", Lissa whispered. "She's still in there with Jeanine".

"Go!" Dimitri yelled. "Get out of here!" Dimitri knew better than anyone that Rose would blame herself if anything happened to her sisters. So he sent them away to safety. But he be damned if he left behind the love of his life.

Sydney nodded and revved the van. Dimitri made his way in the office, still going through strigoi.

Sydney may have appeared to agree with Dimitri's orders but she had plans of her own. "Lissa, take the wheel, you're driving them out of here", she instructed. "Ozera, you're with me". She leapt from the van followed by a puzzled Christian behind her. She slammed her hand twice on the side of the van, signaling for Lissa to drive.

"No!" Adrian objected in the van. "Stop! Sydney, what are you doing?!" He was franticly trying to open the doors and go after his love. "What have you done?" He accused Lissa, who was in the drivers seat drying her eyes.

"They needed to stay behind and help Rose and Dimitri. And we needed to get out because we're the only ones who can save them".

Adrian knew Lissa was referring to spirit. He also knew without a doubt that if anything happened to Syd, he'd bring her back and kill her himself for concocting this stupid plan. "Does Rose know about this?"

"Yeah right. She would have left us hog tied back at HQ if she knew".

Adrian believe that without a doubt.

.

"Sydney, what the hell are we doing?" Christian asked.

"As soon as Dimitri and Rose make it back to the light, you and I are torching this place", Syd answered. All Christian could do was smirk in response. The two stood back to back in case the needed to hold their ground and waited for their friends to emerge from hell.

.

In the office, Rose was in a bad way. When Dimitri came charging in he saw Rose wasn't using her left arm at all. He suspected that she dislocated her shoulder. She had a gash on the side of her head that was dripping blood profusely. Not to mention the busted lip and what appeared to be a broken cheek bone below her black eye. There was no telling how many internal injuries she'd suffered.

But the worst part was when Dimitri watched Rose lurch forward to deliver a fatal blow with her stake into Jeanine's heart. However, Rose took a misstep. How could she not?, with the way she was beat up, barely holding on to consciousness.

Rose took a misstep and Dimitri had to watch as she fell straight into Jeanine's waiting claws. Jeanine grabbed Rose and spun her around. She held Rose in a headlock. Rose was too weak to fight back. Jeanine was about to sink her fangs in Rose's neck when she received an unexpected blow to the head. She stumbled back releasing an unconscious Rose to the floor with a thud.

Jeanine was shocked anyone could get a hit on her like that. She didn't even see it coming. "Well, well, if it isn't the boytoy", she sneered.

"Enough talk. I'm going to kill you", Dimitri declared.

"You? A human?" The thought was absolutely absurd to a strigoi.

Dimitri slammed his fist in Jeanine's face again. That's when Jeanine realized with a certainty the Dimitri wasn't human at all. Not with that strength and that speed. "What are you?"

The next hit Dimitri attempted missed it's mark when Jeanine anticipated and sidestepped. She hit Dimitri with such force he could hear his ribs break. It was the hardest hit he'd ever taken. The wind was blown out of his lungs and he lost his focus long enough for Jeanine to get the better of him. She kicked the back of his knees, sending him kneeling. Jeanine may have been a foot and a half shorter than Dimitri, but it was she who had the high ground now.

She had set him up in a way that she could literally rip his head from his shoulders. She pinched the nerve in his neck as though she were raised as a Volcan, in order to subdue him, making it easier to dismember him. As she grabbed his head and was about to snap it clear off, she felt a sharp pain in her back again. Dimitri fell to the ground.

Jeanine turned to find it was Rose, she had staked her mother through the back. But she missed the heart by an inch or two.

Rose pulled another stake she had concealed in her belt and raised her hand high to take the final plunge.

But Jeanine had pulled the stake from her back and held it tight despite the burning in her hand. She blocked Rose's stake and then the unthinkable happened. Jeanine had used a slayers most trusted weapon against her. She stabbed Rose in the abdomen with the stake. Rose dropped the stake from her hand and looked down at the charmed silver that was protruding out of her body. She looked back into the eyes of the thing that was once her mother. "That's cheating", Rose whispered.

"I'm strigoi. We don't fight fair".

Rose fell to her knees.

"Oh darling", Jeanine mocked. "This isn't how I wanted things to end. I didn't want to kill you sweetheart", she brushed the bloody hair from Rose's face. "I wanted to turn you. We could have been together forever, My daughter". Then she shrugged callously. "Oh well, at least you'll make for a good snack. And maybe he" Jeanine glared at Dimitri's hunched form "will be a good desert. He certainly looks yummy".

Before Jeanine had a chance to lick her lips, Rose ripped the stake from her stomach and shoved it with all her might into Jeanine's heart the instant she turned to her.

"Ow". Those were Jeanine Hathaway's final words.

The threat to her man ignited a new fight in Rose giving her the strength she need to save Dimitri, even if it cost her her own life. Removing the stake from her abdomen caused the wound to gush with blood.

"Roza, no!" Dimitri woke just in time to see Rose fall back and close her eyes. With Jeanine dead, Dimitri quickly lifted Rose in his arms and carried her out of the office back to the main floor of the warehouse. He registered that the van was gone, meaning Lissa wasn't there to save his love.

He was barely out of the office when more strigoi were coming at him. He heaved Rose over his shoulder, prepared to fight his way out when the strigoi around him caught on fire.

Dimitri had never been so relieved to see people completely disregard his orders. Sydney and Christian were throwing fireballs and fire satchels at any strigoi that came near Dimitri.

As soon as Dimitri and Rose were in the sunlight, they made a mad dash for the east exit. They didn't need to get far because the van was coming right back for them. Dimitri climbed in with Rose still over his shoulder. Sydney and Christian lit more and more fires in the warehouse.

"We need to go Syd!", Adrian warned.

"Not before this place is a pile of ash!", she yelled back.

The warehouse was incinerating fast. It occurred to Christian then that Sydney Sage may very well be a bigger pyromaniac than he was. He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back to the van. Lissa slammed her foot the gas pedal and made way out of the warehouse and into the daylight.

Dimitri laid Rose on the floor of the van. "She's not breathing".


	18. Chapter 18 - Moments

**_Chapter 18 - Moments_**

Life is a series of moments. And Rose had many moments. It's said that your life flashed before your eyes when you die. There were a lot of moments flashing before Rose's eyes now. It would take a long time to get through them all. Maybe it was those moments that were keeping her alive now.

But when you're dying, you don't really have a sense of time. Life doesn't flash so much as it replays. And it's not chronological, either, Rose learned.

* * *

Rose was seventeen when Alberta took her out hunting for the very first time.

"I thought as a slayer I was only supposed to go out with a team, and not before my eighteenth birthday". Rose may have been cocky and a rule breaker, but she was also waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"While that is true", Alberta answered, "You're ready. You're the best I've ever seen in training. Besides, I'll be with you. Just think of me as your team".

"You're always my team, Bertie".

That night Rose made her first kill. She saved Alberta while going it too. Rose learned a very important lesson then. There is no such thing as being prepared. Rose lost a lot of her cockiness when it came to hunting and slaying after that.

* * *

It was Rose's eighteenth birthday and Lissa wanted to do something special even though she knew Rose hated her own birthday. Lissa had convinced Alberta to allow her and the gang to throw a party in the gym. They decorated with streamers and balloons. Lissa and Sydney baked a cake. Everyone was invited. Gifts were brought.

Rose sulked the entire party. She tried not to, but her birthday was never a happy time for her. I wasn't just that she almost died on her sixteenth birthday. Her birthday just reminded her that her mother wasn't there to celebrate these moments with her.

So Rose plastered a fake smile on her face so nobody's feelings would get hurt. Her sisters knew better, though. Despite that, Lissa and Sydney brought out the cake.

"Babe", Lissa asked Christian, "Can you light the candles, please?"

"Sure", Christian smirked, any excuse to use his fire magic.

Lissa didn't take into account that he snuck a flask to the party and drank a little (or maybe a lot) so his control over his magic was limited. Chris tried to light the candle, but no flames came out.

He shook his hands and tried again.

Nothing.

"Having some performance issues there, sparky?" Rose jibed.

"Shut it Rosie!"

Rose stifled a laugh.

Christian was getting red in the face from exertion of repeated attempts.

"Let me just get some matches", Sydney rolled her eyes. "How much have you had to drink?" She asked disapprovingly, knowing full well that his inebriation was probably Adrian's fault.

"I can so this." Chris pouted and gave it one last go. He managed to set his own hair on fire as well as his pants.

Rose burst out laughing. It was a cathartic laugh. "That was the best birthday gift I could have gotten. Cake and fire crotch actually set his crotch on fire! I love you guys"

Rose laughed so hard she was in tears. And for the first time in a long time, they weren't tears of sadness and grief on her birthday.

* * *

Slayers worked the hardest on the weekends. That's when people went out partying, that's when strigoi went out feeding, and that's when slayers went out slaying. So Monday nights were lazy nights for a slayer.

For Rose and Dimitri, that meant a lazy night in bed, where neither of them had to get up for a hunt or go to training. Where they could stay wrapped naked in each others arms after a bad Sunday night out and a good Monday rolling around in bed together.

Dimitri untangled himself from Rose when he heard the lightest of knocks on the door.

"Where are you going?" Rose mumbled sleepily.

"Just hitting the head, go back to sleep, I'll be right back".

Moments later, Rose woke to the sent of freshly baked doughnuts and hot chocolate, and the shoulder that peeked from the covers being peppered with kisses from a Russian God.

She moaned. "Mmmm. What's this?"

"Breakfast in bed", Dimitri smiled and handed Rose the bag.

"God, I love you". Dimitri naturally assumed Rose was talking to the doughnuts.

But in fact, Rose couldn't think of anything better than naked breakfast in bed. Doughnuts and Dimitri had been a fantasy for hers for a while.

"How did you manage this, comrade?"

Dimitri smiled, "Doctor's secrets".

Rose rolled her eye. "You really won't tell me, babe?" She dropped the sheets as she stretched, exposing her bare chest and making Dimitri simultaneously go hard, in the nether region, and soft in the brain region.

He swallowed. "I asked Lissa to help me surprise you with breakfast in bed. When she stopped squealing at how adorable that was she said she'd deliver a bag of your favorites to our door". Dimitri sighed as how weak he was. "I didn't go to the bathroom just then, there was a knock at the door".

"That is so sweet, comrade!" Rose leaned forward and planted a kiss on Dimitri's cheek. She started rifling through the bag. "There's coffee for you".

Dimitri took it gratefully.

"Here", Rose handed him a doughnut.

Dimitri was shocked. "You're giving me one of your doughnuts?" Dimitri pressed his hand to Rose's forehead to check if she was feverish.

"No", Rose answered. "I'm giving you half my doughnuts".

"Why?" now Dimitri was just plain suspicious.

"Well, first of all, there are over a dozen in here and I can't eat more than 8. We all remember what happened last time I did that", Rose and Dimitri shivered at the memory of her heaving chunks of jelly doughnut and Boston cream. "Plus, sharing is caring", Rose smirk. " _And_ , if I share my breakfast with you it increases the amount of time we don't have to leave this room exponentially!" Rose took a big bit out of her doughnut and sent a saucy wink in Dimitri's direction.

They ate, they laughed, they made love.

* * *

Rose and Lissa were fifteen when they snuck out of the sisterhood to go to a halloween party in fairy costumes. They had been planning this outing for a month. They were going to drink beer and hit on boys and maybe, just maybe get kissed. Unfortunately, Albert caught them as soon as they were out the door and grounded them both for the remainder of the semester. They vowed they'd never sneak out again. Of course, _that_ lasted all of 2 weeks…

* * *

Rose was four years old and waiting for Jeanine to come home and tuck her in. The fiery red head had seemed so big to Rose back then, despite her five foot nothing stature.

"What are you still doing up, wee one?" Jeanine scolded Rose in her Scottish accent.

"Mommy! You're home!" Rose ran to her mother.

Jeanine couldn't fault the girl for missing her curfew. She lifted a giggling Rose in her arms and swung her around and around.

When her giggling subsided Rose cupped both of Jeanine's cheeks in her hands. "Read me a story mommy".

"What shall we read?"

"Sabrina Fair". It was Rose's favorite. She wished she'd been named Sabrina. She wanted to be the savior of the story.

"Aye, wee one. That'll due".

Jeanine sat in a big arm chair in Rose's bedroom, reserved only for story telling. Rose sat in her mother's lap, story book in hand. Little Rose drifted off to sleep, content and warm in her mother's embrace as she recited the final line of the poem, "Listen and save".

* * *

"Adrian, give that back!" Rose hollered and chased Adrian around the gym. She was really starting to hate this pretentious asshole. "It's dangerous, stop messing around with that!" He had taken a crossbow and decided he was a new aged Green Arrow, so named for the color of his eyes.

He was running around the room, chased by Rose, with Lissa sitting on the sidelines, laughing her ass off.

"Lissa, I don't care if he's your cousin, I'm going to make him bleed".

The door of the gym open and Alberta entered, ushering a little blond girl behind her. "Rose, Lissa, I'd like you to meet someone".

Just them Rose tripped Adrian to his knees before the newcomer.

The blond lent Adrian her hand. "Here, let me help you".

"This is Sydney Sage", Alberta said. "She's new here. Sydney's an alchemist".

Rose had never seen a look on Adrian's face like the one he had when he first met Sydney Sage. Rose laughed, she knew right then and there. Adrian was a goner.

* * *

Rose was on the roof of the sisterhood with her katana. It was one of the first times she was practicing a katana kata. She had finally done the kata from start to finish in one fluid try. She felt an immense sense of pride. More than she thought was possible. It was only increased when Alberta stepped out from her hiding place in the shadows, clapping and whooping.

"Rose that was amazing!"

"Thanks, Bertie".

They hugged. Rose loved Alberta, but still in moments like these she wished her mother was her.

* * *

This was it. This was _the_ moment. If she was going to die, if this was lights out, if she was never going to open her eyes again, she wanted the curtains to close with _this_ as the last moment she relived.

It was her and Dimitri. They were sound asleep, spooned together, her back to his torso, her head pillowed by his muscled arm, his other arm securing her body firmly to his.

They had taken to sleeping naked. It made life simpler and much more fun.

Fun like tonight.

Rose and Dimitri slowly stirred awake. Nearly everything they did was in sync, so it was no surprise they would wake up hot and bothered in sync as well.

Dimitri was rubbing Rose's nipples with the tips of his fingers while rubbing his manhood against her backside. Rose pressed her butt harder against Dimitri's throbbing erection. She took his fingers into her mouth, gently sucking them, but mostly moistening them before returning his hand to her puckered nipple.

When Dimitri attached his lips to her neck, Rose was already panting. She wanted more. She squirmed in his embrace, turning to face him and bringing his hot mouth to her breasts. Dimitri greedily took one of her nipples in his mouth, nibbling and sucking, bringing her infinite pleasure. She came undone from Dimitri's mouth on her over sensitive nubs alone. That had never happened before and Dimitri was exceedingly proud of himself.

At her climax, he only grew harder. "Fuck, I want you to ride me", Dimitri murmured against her chest.

Rose loved it when Dimitri talked dirty and was all to happy to oblige. She pushed Dimitri on his back and mounted him. It reminded Rose of that old saying, 'save a horse, ride a cowboy'. Rose slid onto Dimitri's engorged shaft, taking him in inch by tantalizing inch. She rocked her hips back and forth slowly at first. He hissed with pleasure.

Rose started thrusting harder and harder. Her moaning was now almost out of control. His dick pounded into her while her clit rubbed against his pelvis.

"That's it Roza! Bounce on me!", Dimitri growled in appreciation.

Rose knew he loved watching her full breast jiggle and dance while he impaled her from below. But she needed his hands on her right then and there. Rose grabbed his hands and guided them to her ample bosom. Dimitri squeezed her firm breast in his hand and pinched and tweaked her nipples with his fingertips. She loved that he always knew what she wanted and what she needed.

Rose loved the feeling of fullness she got when Dimitri was fully sheathed in her. She missed it when he wasn't, she craved it when they were together yet not in that way.

And Rose knew that it wasn't just because of how massive Dimitri was. Sure, that was part of it, but it was also because she was so in love with him. They shared an intimacy that in Rose's opinion was unique and rare. She often felt as though they were destined for each other.

Something in the way Dimitri was looking at her just then changed. He grabbed Rose's waist and sat up. "What's wrong Roza?"

"Nothing", she smile. "Everything's perfect". Rose kissed him deeply. Their tongues danced with familiarity.

Dimitri pressed her firmly to his body. He pulled her down harder on his lap with a grip in her shoulders.

Rose climaxed a second time that night with her chest pressed against Dimitri's, heart to heart, with his arms holding them together, their bodies moulded to each other's. It was the most powerful orgasm Rose had ever experience, made more powerful by the fact that she and Dimitri came together.

They didn't part afterwards. When Dimitri caught his breath he simply said, "That was incredible. Roza, you are incredible". He kissed her softly, tenderly. "I love you".

"I love you too Dimitri".

"I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you, Rose Hathaway". When Rose didn't say anything, Dimitri faltered just the tiniest bit. "Is that ok?"

Rose nodded. "That's ok", she answered breathless.

* * *

 _That was a few days ago_ , Rose thought as she drifted into endless darkness.


	19. Chapter 19 - Blood is Thicker than Water

**_Chapter 19 - Blood is thicker than Water_**

Christian quickly traded places with Lissa as the driver so she could tend to Rose. Behind the van, the warehouse was slowly turning into a pile of ash.

"She's not breathing", Dimitri repeated. "But she still has a pulse. Sydney, is there anything here resembling a crash cart in here?".

"Uhm, D", Adrian said nervously, "we got rid of anything that wasn't necessary to make room for the guns and ammo", he explained. "There's no medical equipment in here".

Dimitri ran his hand roughly through his hair. "Chris, drive to the nearest hospital. Sydney, put pressure on the wound. Olena, take her arm and monitor her pulse. Lissa, Adrian, try to fix her. I'm starting c.p.r.".

Everyone did as they were told. Dimitri started mouth to mouth.

"It's not working. The healing isn't working", Adrian said frantically. Lissa began sobbing. "She's lost too much blood for spirit to heal her".

"Keep trying", Dimitri ordered.

"Dimitri," Olena cleared her throat, "she doesn't have a pulse".

"No, no, no, no, no", he answered. "She has a pulse, it's just weak". Dimitri refused to accept that he was losing her. He ventilated her again.

Sydney and Olena switched between them. "Dimitri." Sydney said firmly. "She doesn't have a pulse.

"Then we start chest compression. I'm not letting her die", Dimitri answered vehemently. He didn't know much about spirit, but he was sure that if Rose died, Lissa wouldn't be able to bring her back a second time.

"I have a better idea", Sydney said. "Adrian, put pressure on her wound. Olena take over compressions". Sydney pulled out a huge syringe from her bag. She motion for Dimitri to give her his hand. "Trust me".

Dimitri nodded and complied. Sydney suck the needle in his arm and started drawing blood. When the syringe was full Syd removed it from Dimitri's arm and handed it to him. "Just like an epinephrin. Straight to the heart. If I'm right, the first thing that'll heal is the puncture from the needle".

Dimitri looked from the syringe to his Roza. Then he jammed the needle through Rose's breastplate right into her heart and injected.

"Olena, continue compressions. Lissa, Adrian, now! Start healing. Dimitri, give me your arm". It seemed Sydney was now the general in charge.

She pulled out her pocket knife. Before cutting Dimitri's arm she explained, "We need to get as much of your blood as possible into the gaping hole in Rose's abdomen".

Dimitri nodded and Sydney sliced his arm open. She spilled his blood onto Rose.

"It's working", Lissa said.

"I can feel it too", Adrian added.

"Keep going", Sydney instructed. "Adrian, focus on her stomach. Lissa, get her heart started. Dimitri, we need more of your blood in her heart".

They repeated the process with the syringe. It was working, but not enough.

"Come on, Sage", Dimitri panted. "Do it again". He wanted to draw more blood and inject it into Rose.

"No Dimitri. It's too much, we can't do it for a third time". Sydney knew that he too had sustained injuries and lost a lot of blood. He was already pale.

"We will do it until she comes back!" Dimitri scream.

"Even if it kills you?!"

"Yes!"

"Fine!" Sydney conceded, "But no more after this!"

Again Dimitri drove the syringe into Rose's chest and pushed the plunger down.

"Come on, baby" Dimitri whispered. "Come back to me, Roza".

Third times a charm, as they say.

Rose's heart started beating on her own.

She let out a gargled breath.

"She's breathing!" Dimitri was relieved.

"We're at the hospital", Christian announced as Rose took more and more breaths on her own.

"You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay", Olena said over and over. No one was sure who that was aimed at, they were all rattled.

* * *

Christian had driven everyone to the nearest hospital. Luck was on their side as this particular hospital had a wing dedicated to moroi and dhampir. One doctor was even aware of spirit and the power it could wield. So when the gang vaguely explained to the staff what happened to Rose there was an understanding that her healing had much to do with spirit. But the doctors ran a full workup on her anyway since she hadn't yet regained consciousness.

The medical team treated Olena, Lesly and Beth. All were suffering dehydration, cracked ribs and other fractures, along with extensive minor injuries, cut and scrapes. All in all, they would be fine in a week or two.

The moroi were given blood. They were all weakened by the sun as well as the use of their elements.

Dimitri, of course, refused treatment. He insisted he was fine. And he had no intention of leaving Rose's side. If he were allowed, he'd have appointed himself her acting physician. Instead, he appointed himself her next of kin and legal guardian. A nurse on staff managed to find Dimitri some clothes since his were soaked in blood - his _and_ Rose's. When Dimitri wasn't paying attention, Adrian snuck by him by and healed him just a little.

"What are you doing, Adrian?" Dimitri asked when he noticed what was going on.

"Just closing the cut on your arm, D", Adrian referred to the cut Sydney made in the van. But there were other injuries being healed as well. "You gotta let someone take care of you, brother. Besides, it didn't take all that much effort", he winked at Dimitri and left him be.

Everyone received clean bills of health and were discharged, save for Rose. She was admitted to the hospital for observation. A full examination revealed that there was nothing wrong with her, other than the fact that she wasn't awake.

Sydney contacted the sisterhood to inform them of the events that transpired and that Jeanine's passing meant safety for sisterhood, no one would have to be evacuated from their homes.

Rose was moved to a private room, courtesy of her father, with enough space for everyone to congregate around her.

Alberta made it to the hospital in time for the doctor to give the her prognosis on Rose's condition.

"Rose's vitals are good. Her blood work came back excellent. We took scans of her from head to toe. She has no broken bones, no bruising or blemishes on the skin, not even where the stake punctured her abdomen. The bottom line is, she's in peak physical condition, even for a dhampir. She went through a terrible ordeal. The extent of her injuries as you described them and the toll the healing process no doubt took on her body left her weak. We've started her on a IV of fluids and nourishment. It's a waiting game now. She'll wake up when she's ready". With that the doctor left.

"This is all my fault", Alberta took Rose's hand in hers. "I'm so sorry, Rosie".

Lissa, Sydnye, Adrian, Christian and Olena. Non of them had ever seen Alberta cry. Now they all bore witness to her guilt and grief for what happened to Rose.

"She's going to be alright", Sydney tried to comfort Alberta.

"She almost died!", Alberta hissed.

"But she didn't". In walked Abe Mazur. "My little girl is the strongest person I know".

Now all of Rose's friends and family were present. They each took turns sitting by Rose, holding her hand, praying and hoping that she would wake soon.

"It's getting late", Alberta stated. It was almost day break. "I need to get back to the sisterhood. Please let me know as soon as there's a change". Alberta left, taking Lesly and Beth with her. They needed a good day's sleep. Before departing she suggested the rest of the party head home as well. They all needed the rest.

"That's a good idea", Dimitri surprise everyone. "I'll stay and keep you posted". Less surprising.

"We're not going anywhere", Lissa said. But the truth was, Lissa needed the rest more than anyone else. She was drained from the amount of spirit she used. So drained, that it didn't take much convincing from Christian that she was no good to Rose in her current state. She needed to keep her strength up in case Rose needed more healing. In that moment, it seemed to Lissa like a valid point.

It also seemed like a valid point to Adrian, who managed to coax Sydney back to the sisterhood as well.

"Come on, Abe", Olena rose from her chair, "it's time we left as well".

It looked like Abe was about to protests, but a pinch in the arm from his most trusted former guardian shut his mouth. Olena hugged Dimitri before leaving. Dimitri let her. Abe kissed Rose on the forehead. It was one of the most fatherly things he'd ever done.

Soon it was just Dimitri and Rose, alone in a private hospital room. Dimitri took the chair closest to the bed, he claimed Rose's hand in his own and kissed her knuckles tenderly.

"Wake up, baby", Dimitri waited until they were alone before he started pleading. "I almost lost you today and I need to see those big beautiful brown eyes looking back at me. Please, Roza".

Being a doctor, Dimitri had a suspicion that Rose was out for too long. She should have woken by now. Then again, he had never dealt with spirit of this level, nor the healing power his own blood apparently possessed. Still, he was scared.

"I can't live if you die", a single tear slid down his cheek.

Rose took a deep breath. And opened her eyes.

* * *

Rose had never felt stronger and she was ready to leave as soon as the doctor gave the green light. Dimitri was still worried about her. For his own peace of mind, he needed to examine her a bit more, but that could be done in Sydney's lab; no need to stay in the hospital any more than necessary.

Rose was dying to know what happened. She didn't remember anything after staking Jeanine. Dimitri filled her in as best he could. They both knew they needed to talk to Sydney seeing as neither of them fully understood how Rose was even alive. But they were both grateful for it.

Rose and Dimitri decided on a quiet cab ride home. Rose didn't want to bother anyone. It was just as well, Dimitri wanted her all to himself for as long as possible. He couldn't let her go. At any given moment, some part of him was touching some part of her - holding hands, or stroking her hair, or he had an arm around her shoulder as she looked out the window and rested her head against his shoulder. Dimitri broke the comfortable silence with a rather tempting suggestion. "What do you say we take a long vacation?"

"I've never been on vacation", Rose said in wonder.

"Well it's about time, milaya", Dimitri kissed her temple. "Let's go someplace magical. Where clothing is optional".

Rose giggle. "Comrade, you sure know how to sweet talk a girl".

"Only you, Roza".

"Okay", Rose answered Dimitri's question.

"Okay?"

"Yeah", Rose nodded. "Let's go on vacation. I think I deserve a vacation". They both smiled. "But first, let's go home. We need to talk to Syd and I need a hot long shower. I think I still have dry blood in my hair".

Dimitri laughed. "Can I help with that?"

They continued to laugh like the cute young couple they were. But when Dimitri sobered up he ask, "Rose, are you sure you're okay? I mean you killed your mother".

"I didn't kill my mother", Rose shook her head. "I killed a monster and set my mother free".

* * *

Rose and Dimitri were both resigned to the fact that once the got to the sisterhood, it would be a while before they could settle in and get some answers and some rest.

When they entered HQ, Rose and Dimitri were met with a slow building applause.

"I guess good gossip travels fast", Rose said under her breath.

Dimitri just nodded. Neither of them really knew who all the fuss was for. But Dimitri hoped to god that it wasn't for him.

Alberta didn't even bother greeting them like a commander. She was just too happy to see her surrogate daughter out and about and alive. She wrapped her arms around Rose in a vice grip and didn't let go until Rose started mumbling something about not being able to breathe.

"I'm so sorry, Rosie", Alberta whispered. "None of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me".

"Oh hush, Bertie", Rose chastised. "I'm a big girl. I knew what I was getting in to. And I know you were just trying to protect me".

"Welcome back, Belikov".

"Thank you, Petrov".

Alberta noticed at once Rose was looking around the room longingly. "Your sisters are waiting for you in the lab". After a momentary pause and another hazard glimpse at Dimtiri, she added "You better get him to bed, he hasn't slept in days".

Rose could tell Dimitri was practically dead on his feet, but they needed to see the gang and get answers before Dimitri could crash.

The two were congratulated by a sarong of slayers and moroi as they made their way out of HQ and toward Sydney's lab.

Sydney and Lissa attacked Rose with hugs and kisses as soon as she entered the lab. They wanted to greet their sister in a more private setting.

"Make room for us too!", Adrian spoke for both himself and Christian, as the two joined in on the hugging.

Turning to Dimitri, Christian said, "Get in here, you big lug".

Dimitri smiled, goofy and tired, and stretched his big long arms around the entire group.

When the excitement over Rose's recovery calmed down some, Sydney explained how she formulated the theory that Dimitri's blood would have healing powers. "It all started the night Dimitri almost died. The next morning after we were messing around with his healing ability and I drew some blood to test", she took a deep breath. "The blood in and of itself didn't poses any special healing characteristics. But coupled with a little bit of spirit, courtesy of Lissa, the healing was sped up exponentially". Sydney was giddy as she continued her tale. "I had this notion that maybe Dimitri's father was a spirit user before he was turned", Sydney smile widely, proud of her own theory. "But I digress. Anyway, I was limited by the amount of tests I could run because, as I discovered, the blood needed to be fresh to an extreme, so much so that that it made me believe originally that even if Dimitri's blood had an extra healing kick when coupled with spirit, it would not be applicable to anyone but Dimitri". Sydney cleared her throat. "The point is, I was, like, 90 percent sure that Dimitri's blood coupled with Lissa and Adrian's spirit would heal Rose".

"What about the other 10 percent?" Rose asked appalled.

Sydney simply shrugged is response.

"I'm just glad everything's going back to normal", Lissa said.

Christian corrected, "Almost normal. Alberta decided to move our branch anyway. The risk that there might be strigoi out there who know where the sisterhood is located is too great".

"Yeah," Adrian added. "But at least we don't have to run away now. It's a planned relocation, with movers and everything. Plus I hear Abe has decided to make a sizable donation, so the new diggs are going to be sweet!"

Chris grunted in agreement and Rose just rolled her eye. "Alright guys, I gotta get my man to bed".

"I can't _know_ this", Christian jibed.

Rose rolled her eyes again. "He needs sleep".

"Roza, I don't need to be babied", Dimitri almost pouted. He definitely needed to be babied.

"Whatevs. I still need to wash my hair". Rose tried to hide her smirk, knowing that was the kicker that would get Dimitri _running_ back to their room.

Rose was lost in thought while they sluggishly walked back to the room. So much for hinting at naked fun. Watching Dimitri drag himself to their room was borderline pitiful. The sooner they got to their room the better.

That got Rose thinking about what their new room would look like. _Maybe it would be a suite that actually had room for 2 occupants_ , Rose thought. _Maybe it would even have enough space for a small sofa or a makeshift kitchenette with a mini fridge, a microwave and a coffee machine for Dimitri._

Those kinds of thoughts, the idea of an actual home for Dimitri and her, got Rose all kinds of hot and bothered. She suddenly remembered something she desperately needed to discuss with Dimitri.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hi guys!_

 _OMG what a week! What a winter! I've never been so sick in my life! I had strep throat and the flu! I'm still coughing like I'm on my death bed!_

 _Enough about me!_ _This story is almost done! This stage is alway bitter sweet for me. I'm proud I got there, but sad to see the story over... Well, almost over... I think I have one more chapter in me._

 _Thank you for all the reviews, the follows, and the favorites! We've made it almost to the finish line, I'm so proud of us!_

 _Let me know what you thought of this chapter!_

 _Also, what do you think is going to happen next? What does Rose need to discuss with Dimitri? and where are they going on vaca?!_

 _Much Love_

 _K_


	20. Chapter 20 - It's a new dawn

**_Chapter 20 - It's a new dawn_**

Once Rose managed to drag Dimitri into their room, Dimitri plopped himself on the bed, taking Rose with him, despite her protests and squeals. He landed on his back with Rose on top of him.

"Dimitri, I need to shower", Rose giggled. "And you need to rest".

"No, I'm not letting you out if my sight", he pouted.

"Then come with me", Rose conceded. "You need a shower too".

"Is that your subtle way of calling me smelly?" Dimitri huffed, mock-offended.

Rose pulled him from the bed by the arm and yanked his shirt off. He was worse than she thought. Patches of dried blood littered his body, indicating wounds that had already healed, and patches of yellowish skin, the remnants of bruises from the battle. She didn't say anything, though the looks she gave Dimitri spoke volumes as to her worry.

"Come on Comrade", Rose tugged him to the shower on unsteady feet. She undressed and helped Dimitri strip the rest of his clothes.

She sat him down on the shower seat so she could wash herself, but Dimitri wasn't having it. He grabbed Rose by the waist and pulled her to him so her back was leaning against his chest. He peppered her shoulder with featherlight kisses. There wasn't anything sexual about it, he just needed her closeness desperately.

Rose smiled softly. "I can't wash my hair like this".

Dimitri just stood, silently took the shampoo bottle from her and lathered her hair. "I'm not letting go of you any time soon", he declared with conviction.

It was being to sink in for Rose how much what had happened was effecting Dimitri. They continued to bathe each other in intimate silence, exchanging a kiss here, a caress there, a long embrace under the hot spray of the shower.

When Dimitri swayed on his legs, Rose decided it was time for bed. She dried Dimitri as best she could and sat him on the bed while she dried herself and brushed her hair. Dimitri never let her get too far from him.

Rose swallowed hard. "Are you alright, Dimitri?"

"No", he whispered. "How can I be alright? You almost died, Roza". A single tear slid down his cheek. "I nearly lost you". He cupped her cheeks with both hands. "How am I supposed to live without you? You're everything to me, you know that?"

Now Rose was crying too. There wasn't anything she could say. She wanted to say everything was going to be okay and that this would never happen again. But she was a slayer. She could easily die at any moment. There were no guarantees in their line of work.

"I love you so much it hurts me sometimes", Dimitri added.

Rose nodded in agreement and leant in. They kissed chastely for a long while.

Rose pushed Dimitri back a tad. "I have to tell you something. And you need to hear this. I don't care If the earth opens at my feet right now, you'd need to know this".

"Roza, you're freaking me out".

Rose shook her head. "No, don't. I love you. So so much". She took a deep breath. "Remember that night last week, when we woke up and had the most amazing sex ever?" Rose chuckled at her own choice of words.

Dimitri nodded. "When I told you I want to spend the rest of my life with you and you said 'okay'?" The memory of it alone had Dimitri looking morose.

"I'm so sorry about that, Dimitri. You caught me off guard. I should have told you then. I should tell you every day", Rose rambled.

"Tell me what? You're not making sense"

"It's not okay".

Dimitri looked horrified. But only for a moment.

"If I get to spend the rest of my life with you, I'd consider myself the luckiest being on the planet. I love you and when I'm with you everything feels right and wonderful. So you see, 'okay' doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm grateful for every moment we share and I want to share all my moments with you".

When Dimitri didn't say anything, Rose asked with a cheeky smile, "Is that okay?"

Dimitri returned the smile and embraced Rose as if she were his private sun on the blackest night.

After that there was nothing left to be said. Dimitri and Rose fell asleep wrapped in each other arms.

* * *

A month later, Dimitri took Rose on vacation as promised. They didn't plan on waiting a month, but they didn't want to miss the big move to the new sisterhood location. They were there to help pack and get the younglings settled in.

The new digs were pretty sweet, as Adrian had put it. Rose and Dimitri did in fact get a suite with a living room, bedroom and kitchenette. There was even a breakfast nook. The bathroom had a gargantuan tub that could easily fit 2 _and_ a shower. Rose wondered if anyone else got such accommodations or if it was just her fathers nepotism. The suite was fully furnished, surprisingly much to Dimitri and Rose's like. They had a king sized bed with _two_ nightstands. The living room had a large comfy sofa, an armchair, a coffee table and a TV. It even had selves for Dimitri's books. The glazing on the doughnut was the walk in closet.

When they settled into their respective suites, Adrian and Sydney, and Lissa and Christian both hosted movie nights. Rose and Dimitri's suite was just the tiniest bit better than the two other couples'. Not counting the bathroom and closet space, which were superior by far.

On Rose and Dimitri's turn to host movie night, the couple announced that they were going on vacation. Alone. For a month. In Belize. Courtesy of dear old Abe.

It had taken much convincing on Abe's part for Rose and Dimitri to agree. And Abe went totally overboard, insisting that he had a private house on the beach they could use and a private jet they could take.

"Rose, that's great!" Sydney, Adrian and Christian were all happy for them, congratulating the two on the much deserved vacation and alone time.

"Lissa, what's wrong?" Rose asked when Lissa didn't squeal.

"Nothing", Lissa lied. She rolled her eyes knowing she wasn't fooling anyone. "I'm just going to really miss you and you know how I worry about you when we're apart. And we've never been apart for so long".

Rose smiled and hugger her oldest friend. "Don't worry, Liss", she stroked Lissa's hair. "I promise I'll stay safe. And we'll Skype twice a week. Besides, I have backup", she winked.

In her heart, Lissa knew Dimitri would never let anything happen to Rose. For that alone, Lissa loved him like family and trusted him to bring back her sister in one peice.

* * *

When Abe told Rose and Dimitri he had a beach house, he really should have said beach mansion. The place was huge. So huge it had it's own dock, where, as it turns out, Abe also kept his yacht. The mansion was so big that it took Rose and Dimitri several days just to learn their way around the place.

"You're going to get burnt lying in the sun like that", Dimitri warned Rose, who was sunbathing naked on the beach, her ass towards the heavens.

The obvious benefit of a secluded beach mansion was that the beach was completely private. Rose had taken to the idea of a tan with no lines.

Rose pouted. "No, I'm not, I put on sunscreen".

"Roza, that was hours ago", Dimitri reminded.

Rose was blissfully happy. Time seemed to fly by. "I can't believe we've already been here for 3 weeks. I don't want to go home".

"I wish we could stay here too milaya", Dimitri stroked her back. "But you miss Lissa and Sydney. And you miss slaying". Dimitri smirked. "And eventually you'll miss Christian and Adrian too".

Rose chuckled. He was right. She did miss her sisters terribly. And she missed slaying. It was a part of her, not just a job. When they went out to a local night club Rose was lucky enough to run into a strigoi which she efficiently took out with a "Hells yeah!". Rose and Dimitri were both packing silver. Never leave home without it, was their motto.

"I miss Mia", Rose suddenly said somberly.

Dimitri chuckled. "You can Skype her again", he suggested.

Rose nodded.

Today was a lazy for the couple. While on some days they were adventurous, like exploring the area, going to the markets in the closest town, yachting, scuba diving, and snorkeling, today was all about lying on the beach, drinking rum. It was the caribbean, after all.

Just like Rose had requested when Dimitri suggested the vacation, their days were filled with nudity. Not a day went by were Rose and Dimitri didn't make love at least once. Though they learned the hard way not to have sex on the beach. It may have been a good drink, but it was not good practice. Sand gets… _everywhere_.

After Dimitri rubbed sunscreen all over Rose, he decided to go for a swim. He was an excellent swimmer. As he came out of the ocean Rose couldn't help but admire his beautiful form. He rose from the water like a god of the sea. Every muscle in his body rippled when he walked towards the beach. Wet hair dripping on his shoulders, drops of water trickling down his body, making him glisten. Dimitri was a vision of true perfection and it made Rose's mouth water as well as her core.

Rose couldn't wait for Dimitri any longer and started stroking herself. By the time Dimitri reached her, Rose was already panting. He growled in appreciation at the sight before him. Before she could object, Dimitri threw her over his shoulder and practically ran the short distance to the mansion. When Rose squealed, he smacked her ass. She giggled. Rose knew exactly what she was doing, letting Dimitri find her playing with herself.

At last Dimitri got to their bedroom. Usually, neither of them cared where they were; they'd had sex all over the mansion. And the yacht. And even the private jet. But for some reason, this time Dimitri's mind was set on their bedroom. He was kicking off his swim trunks before he reached the door.

The second Rose's back hit the mattress, Dimitri's tongue invaded her most intimate crevasse. None too gently. Rose screamed in pleasure while Dimitri lapped at her clit, she writhed as his tongue slipped in and out of her, she shuttered as the exquisite orgasm rippled through her body.

Dimitri kissed and sucked his way up Rose till his tongue reached hers. "I love the taste of you", Dimitri murmured. "I love it when you come on my tongue". He dipped his tongue in Rose's mouth again.

"More than you love it when I come on your cock?" Rose asked playfully.

During the 3 week of bliss, their sexual banter had evolved into pure smut.

"You know, I can't decide", Dimitri smoldered and drove into Rose with a fiery passion.

"God, I love you!" Rose wailed while Dimitri fucked her senseless.

That only spurred Dimitri on to fuck her harder. Suddenly he flipped her over, placed her hands on the headboard, her fingers wrapping around the white metal frame. "Hold on", he whispered in her ear from behind while rubbing the tip of his engorged member up and down her slit.

Rose shivered with anticipation. "Stop teasing me", she groaned.

Dimitri smirked, he wasn't done teasing her. He entered her slowly. Bit by bit he inched his way deeper inside her. He stroked her thighs and ass. He gently thumbed her hole, applying just the tiniest bit of pressure. It was enough to send Rose mewling. She wiggled her ass, demanding more. She clenched her muscles tightly around Dimitri's massive erection causing Dimitri to lose the little control he had. He grabbed her by the waist and pounded into her over and over.

"Never", thrust, "stop", thrust, "fucking", thrust, "me!", thrust, "ah!", Rose cried out as she climaxed again. Waves of pleasure course thru her. She felt it in her curling toes. She felt it in her shaking arms and legs. She felt it deep in the pit of her stomach and her core.

Two more thrusts and Dimitri unloaded with an unyielding howl. He collapsed breathless, sweaty and spent on top of Rose. Despite his massiveness, Rose loved the feel of her man crushing her body post coitus. Before long, Dimitri pulled them both onto their side. He curled around Rose, not leaving any space between them, still slightly tucked between her folds.

"Ya lyublyu tebya", he murmured in her ear and kissed her shoulder.

It was the first thing she learned in Dimitri native language. The way he said it, the Russian equivalent for 'I love you', warmed Rose in a way she never imagine was possible. It made her feel cocooned. It made her feel safe. It made her feel like she could fly.

Rose caught a glimpse of her hand. "Dimitri", she turned in his arms so they were facing each other, "do you think we should tell them before we come home?" she asked. It was something they'd discussed several times. The conclusion was always 'no'. But the closer they were to going home the more it gnawed at her insides. She wasn't much for keep secrets, she was more of an open book.

"We already talked about this, Roza", Dimitri answered sleepily. "It's up to you. They're your family. But we decided to keep it to ourselves until we got home and I stand by that decision", he may have been on the verge of slumber, but he was still the voice of reason. "If you tell them now, it'll be so much worse than if you tell them when we get home. How would you even have that conversation?"

Rose shrugged. "Skype?"

"This is how it's going to go", Dimitri cleared his throat and imitated Rose badly with a high pitchy voice, "Hi guys! So I just wanted to tell you that on the way to Belize, Dimitri and I made a pit stop in New Orleans and got married all by ourselves without you there and I didn't tell you till now. Surprise!"

"I don't sound like that!" Rose chuckled and smacked his chest lightly. "And when you say it like that it does sound bad. But won't it sound just as bad saying the same thing to their faces next week?"

"No, because we wanted this month to be just ours. Getting married, being married, it was only for us. This month was about us being together. Telling them now will only make them resent you not telling them right away. Telling them when we're home gets the point across that it wasn't about keep secrets, it was about being together without sharing us with anyone else".

"I know you're right. But I can't help but feel that they're going to resent us anyway for not including them. I mean they didn't even know I would ever consider marriage".

"Milaya, you get to have a life outside the sisterhood and slaying. We deserve to be able to be together and one day have a family", he kissed the tip of her nose. "If you want we can have a party and invite everyone we know and celebrate with them. To be honest, Abe probably already knows and I'm not sure how much he's kept it to himself".

Rose laughed. "No way. If Lissa or Sydney knew, they'd freak out. And if Adrian knew, he would be organizing the after-wedding-bachlor-party".

Dimitri joined in the laughing.

"Oh god!", Rose gasped and covered her mouth, "Comrade, If Alberta knew, she'd get on a plane to Belize, find you and kick your ass!" Rose was still laughing when she realized that Dimitri wasn't laughing at all. The look of pure terror on his face only made Rose laugh harder.

"I can't believe we're actually married!" Rose squealed suddenly and throw her arms around Dimitri. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around Rose tighter.

Dimitri stared at his wife in blissful awe. He couldn't believe they were actually married either. What struck Dimitri the most about their surprise wedding was that it wasn't even his idea, it was Rose's. He thought back to how it all happened.

 _When they were seated on the jet, all set to take off to Belize, Rose turned to him out of the blue and said, "I want to marry you"._

 _Dimitri's smile could have lit up a small city. He leaned in to kiss Rose, who stopped him with her palm on her chest._

 _"Right now", Rose added._

 _Dimitri looked around dumbstruck, wondering how they'd get married on a plane._

 _Rose knew he wasn't hesitating, he was pondering logistics. "Dad said we can take the jet anywhere we want and make any stops we want on the way", Rose explained. "We can stop in New Orleans and get married, spend a couple of days in the french quarter and then head to Belize for our honeymoon". Her hand were basically shaking as she proposed her idea._

 _Dimitri just had the goofiest look on his face. They'd declared themselves when Rose got home from the hospital, and they'd discussed one day getting married. But Rose wanting it right then and there felt miraculous to Dimitri. He thought he'd have to wait years before he convince Rose to marry him. He stared at his soon to be wife, cupped her cheek with his hand and thumbed her lips. "You just made me the happiest man alive Roza"._

Neither of them wanted a traditional proposal or a traditional wedding because nothing about them was traditional. But they made it work. Dimitri didn't care that he didn't do the whole getting down on one knee and popping the question with a ring. Rose didn't care that there was no fuss over her wedding dress, or planning a big wedding. There was no awkward getting to know the family, no jealous brides maids to make fun of. It was just them. Rose and Dimitri. Together. Till death do they part.

Rose and Dimitri got their happily ever after. They'd go home, celebrate with friends and family, and one day when the time is right have children of their own.

The end.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Happy V-Day! It's gotta still be V-Day somewhere, right? That means it's still my Bday! It seemed fitting to end this story a highnote :-D_

 _So that's it! I hoped you liked it._

 _I want to thank everyone who followed and favorited. A huge thank you to anyone who reviewed!_

 _I often wonder how this story would have gone if I could have given it the same attention as I did with NJAMP and G &R. Would it have been better? Longer? More smutty? Would the ending have been different? But overall I pretty please with myself (she laughs maniacally)._

 _I am sorry that somewhere along the line I stopped answering reviews. That all kinda went out the window, along with any real updating schedule. That always makes me feel shitty, just know that they were truly appreciated as is the fact that y'all stuck around for this thing to finally end LOL_

 _Much love,_

 _Kooki_

 _PS - fear not! This isn't the last you've heard of me! You'll see me again sooner than you think._


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